EFFECTS OF ACTH AND ITS O-NITROPHENYL SULPHENYL DERIVATIVE ON ADRENOCORTICAL FUNCTION IN VIVO

1976 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 587-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ramachandran ◽  
Y. C. Kong ◽  
Susanna Liles

ABSTRACT Both ACTH and NPS-ACTH in which the single tryptophan residue of the hormone is modified were able to stimulate adrenal corticosterone concentration to the same extent in hypophysectomized rats, although a higher dose of NPS-ACTH was required. ACTH stimulated adrenal cyclic AMP levels 120-fold in hypophysectomized rats whereas NPS-ACTH caused a marginal increase. In the case of ACTH, low doses of the hormone capable of producing maximal stimulation of corticosterone synthesis did not produce any detectable change in cyclic AMP concentration. The rates of secretion of corticosterone induced by ACTH and NPS-ACTH in vivo were the same. NPS-ACTH was found to be 1.2% as potent as ACTH. The role of cyclic AMP in adrenal repair was investigated by administering equipotent doses of ACTH or NPS-ACTH to hypophysectomized rats. In adult rats both failed to produce a significant increase in adrenal weight. Adrenal function (measured by responsiveness to exogenous ACTH in vitro) was restored by NPS-ACTH but not to the same degree as ACTH. In hypophysectomized weanling rats, ACTH produced a small but significant increase in adrenal weight but NPS-ACTH did not. These results suggest that an increase in adrenal cyclic AMP may not be obligatory for the stimulation of steroidogenesis by ACTH and that some of the trophic actions of the hormone may be mediated by cyclic AMP.

1977 ◽  
Vol 168 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Cooke ◽  
Monica L. Lindh ◽  
Felix H. A. Janszen

The effect of lutropin on phosphorylation of endogenous proteins in testis Leydig cells was investigated, by incubating purified Leydig cells with lutropin and [32P]Pi followed by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-slab gel electrophoresis of the [32P]phosphoproteins. The radioactivity of the proteins was quantified by densitometry of the radio-autograms obtained. The following results were obtained. 1. Lutropin increased the amount of32 P incorporated into three proteins (A, B and C) with apparent mol.wts. of 14300, 57000 and 77600 respectively. 2. The increase in incorporation of32P into these proteins was detectable within 5min, reaching a maximum in approx. 20min. 3. The32P incorporated into protein B (but not proteins A and C) was significantly increased with 0.1 and 1.0ng of lutropin/ml. Incorporation of32P into all three proteins was significantly increased with 10ng of lutropin/ml, reaching a maximum with 100ng/ml. 4. Testosterone production was significantly increased with 1ng of lutropin/ml, and between 10 and 1000ng/ml the degree of stimulation of testosterone production and incorporation of32P into proteins A, B and C was similar. 5. Cyclic AMP production was significantly increased with 10ng of lutropin/ml and had not reached a maximum with 1000ng/ml. 6. In Leydig cells isolated from hypophysectomized rats 3h after injection of choriogonadotropin in vivo, phosphoproteins with the same molecular weights as proteins A, B and C were found. No further increases in incorporation of32P into these proteins were obtained when lutropin was added to the Leydig cells in vitro. 7. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP (but not follitropin or testosterone) also stimulated the incorporation of32P into proteins A, B and C in Leydig cells.


1977 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 839-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Severson ◽  
R. D. Fell ◽  
J. G. Tuig ◽  
D. R. Griffith

Plasma corticosterone concentrations and in vitro adrenal secretion of corticosterone were determined in exercise-trained rats. Rats, 100, 200, and 300 days of age, were trained for a 10-wk period by treadmill running. Following the training program, rats were subjected to an acute bout of swimming. Acute swimming elevated plasma corticosterone concentrations in all age groups. At 170 days of age, the plasma corticosterone concentration following swimming was higher in exercise-trained rats than in controls. The opposite was true of acutely swum rats at 270 and 370 days of age. Acute swimming elevated the in vitro adrenal gland response to adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulation in control rats at all ages and in trained rats at 170 days of age. The in vivo relationship of epinephrine and the pituitary adrenal system is suggested as a mechanism which could have caused this response. The relationship of secretion rates to plasma corticosterone concentrations indicated that extra-adrenal mechanisms, such as decreased turnover, were also responsible for the elevated plasma corticosterone levels observed in response to acute swimming.


1979 ◽  
Vol 237 (5) ◽  
pp. C200-C204 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Stewart ◽  
J. Sax ◽  
R. Funk ◽  
A. K. Sen

Stimulation of salt galnd secretion in domestic ducks in vivo increased the cyclic GMP concentration of the tissue, but had no effect on cyclic AMP levels. Methacholine, which is known to stimulate sodium transport by the glands both in vivo and in vitro, stimulated ouabain-sensitive respiration in salt gland slices. Cyclic GMP stimulated ouabain-sensitive respiration to the same extent as methacholine. Guanylate cyclase stimulators, hydroxylamine and sodium azide, also stimulated ouabain-sensitive respiration. The stimulation of ouabain-sensitive respiration by methacholine was blocked either by atropine or by removal of calcium from the incubation medium. The stimulation of ouabain-sensitive respiration by cyclic GMP still occurred in the absence of calcium. The above observations seem to indicate that cyclic GMP acts as a tertiary link in the process of stimulus-secretion coupling in the tissue.


1960 ◽  
Vol XXXIII (I) ◽  
pp. 59-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. van der Vies

ABSTRACT Adrenal function in rats under various experimental conditions was studied by incubating the adrenals in vitro and determining the corticosteroid output during one hour. This in vitro corticoid production was reduced after hypophysectomy, hypothalamus-lesioning and treatment with hydrocortisone or with Nembutal and morphine. On the other hand, an increased production was observed following stimulation of the pituitary-adrenal system by exogenous histamine or corticotrophin. From these experiments it is concluded that the corticoid production in vitro reflects the activity of the adrenal cortex in vivo and hence can be used for the study of the latter function.


1975 ◽  
Vol 229 (5) ◽  
pp. 1387-1392 ◽  
Author(s):  
GM Rodgers ◽  
JW Fisher ◽  
WJ George

The regional distribution of cyclic AMP in the kidney was determined following erythropoietic stimulation with hypoxia and cobalt. Following these stimuli, increases in renal cyclic AMP concentrations were restricted to the cortex. The basis for this localization in the case of cobalt treatment was found to reside in the stimulation of renal cortical adenylate cyclase activity in vitro by concentrations of cobalt similar to those found in vivo. The level of cobalt in the cortex after cobalt treatment was found to approach 500 mumol/kg of tissue, whereas no detectable levels of cobalt were found in the renal medulla. Additionally, other agents such as parathyroid hormone and lactic acid, that are known to lack stimulatory effects on medullary adenylate cyclase, were found to stimulate the cortical enzyme. This stimulation of renal cortical adenylate cyclase correlates with enhanced erythropoiesis as demonstrated by increased radiolabeled iron incorporation into erythrocytes. These results support previous reports which suggest that renal cortical cyclic AMP mediates erythropoietin production in response to erythropoietically active agents.


2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 1288-1301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W. Hickmott ◽  
Michael M. Merzenich

Peripheral denervation has been shown to cause reorganization of the deafferented somatotopic region in primary somatosensory cortex (S1). However, the basic mechanisms that underlie reorganization are not well understood. In the experiments described in this paper, a novel in vivo/in vitro preparation of adult rat S1 was used to determine changes in local circuit properties associated with the denervation-induced plasticity of the cortical representation in rat S1. In the present studies, deafferentation of rat S1 was induced by cutting the radial and median nerves in the forelimb of adult rats, resulting in a rapid shift of the location of the forepaw/lower jaw border; the amount of the shift increased over the times assayed, through 28 days after denervation. The locations of both borders (i.e., original and reorganized) were marked with vital dyes, and slices from the marked region were used for whole-cell recording. Responses were evoked using electrical stimulation of supragranular S1 and recorded in supragranular neurons close to either the original or reorganized border. For each neuron, postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) were evoked by stimulation of fibers that crossed the border site (CB stim) and by equivalent stimulation that did not cross (NCB stim). Monosynaptic inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) were also examined after blocking excitatory transmission with 15 μM CNQX plus 100 μMdl-APV. The amplitudes of PSPs and IPSPs were compared between CB and NCB stimulation to quantify effects of the border sites on excitation and inhibition. Previous results using this preparation in the normal (i.e., without induced plasticity) rat S1 demonstrated that at a normal border both PSPs and IPSPs were smaller when evoked with CB stimulation than with NCB stimulation. For most durations of denervation, a similar bias (i.e., smaller responses with CB stimulation) for PSPs and IPSPs was observed at the site of the novel reorganized border, while no such bias was observed at the suppressed original border site. Thus changes in local circuit properties (excitation and inhibition) can reflect larger-scale changes in cortical organization. However, specific dissociations between these local circuit properties and the presence of the novel border at certain durations of denervation were also observed, suggesting that there are several intracortical processes contributing to cortical reorganization over time and that excitation and inhibition may contribute differentially to them.


1978 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-252
Author(s):  
V. V. PATWARDHAN ◽  
A. LANTHIER

Laboratoire d'Endocrinologie, Hôpital Notre-Dame et Département de Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada (Received 28 June 1978) Cyclic AMP has been implicated as an intermediate in some of the actions of luteinizing hormone (LH) on ovarian tissues, such as stimulation of steroidogenesis (LeMaire & Marsh, 1975). Both in vitro (Marsh, Butcher, Savard & Sutherland, 1966) and in vivo (Armstrong, Dorrington & Robinson, 1976), stimulation with LH results in a rapid increase in the amount of cyclic AMP in ovarian tissues, which precedes the LH-induced increase in steroidogenesis. Recently, studies on rat ovaries (Grinwich, Ham, Hichens & Behrman, 1976; Ratner, 1976; Ratner & Sanborn, 1976) have indicated that the ovarian tissue content of cyclic GMP may also be regulated by LH, but in a direction opposite to that of cyclic AMP. In the rabbit, Goff & Major (1975) have shown that administration of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) causes a biphasic increase


1985 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Kalison ◽  
M. L. Warshaw ◽  
G. Gibori

ABSTRACT To determine whether prolactin affects both luteal and follicular production of testosterone and oestradiol, pseudopregnant rats, either intact or hypophysectomized on day 8, were injected daily between days 8 and 9 with 1·5 i.u. human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), 250 μg prolactin or a combination of both. Control rats were given vehicle. On day 9, blood was obtained from the ovarian vein and corpora lutea and follicles were isolated and incubated in vitro for 2 h. Administration of hCG to intact rats increased ovarian secretion of testosterone and oestradiol dramatically, but did not affect progesterone secretion. Hypophysectomy on day 8 of pseudopregnancy was followed by a drop in ovarian steroid secretion. Prolactin treatment of hypophysectomized rats markedly enhanced progesterone production but had no stimulatory effect on either testosterone or oestradiol. In contrast, hCG dramatically enhanced ovarian secretion of both testosterone and oestradiol without affecting progesterone secretion. Prolactin administered together with hCG antagonized the stimulation of both testosterone and oestradiol secretion by hCG, yet increased progesterone production. When the specific effects of hCG and prolactin administration on follicles and corpora lutea were studied separately, it was found that hCG treatment in vivo greatly stimulated testosterone and oestradiol production by both tissues in vitro. Since hCG only marginally affected aromatase activity in the follicle, had no effect on aromatase activity in luteal cells and did not increase progesterone synthesis, it appears that hCG acts to increase the formation of androgen substrate for oestradiol biosynthesis. Prolactin, administered with or without hCG, inhibited both basal and hCG-stimulated testosterone and oestradiol synthesis by the follicle. In sharp contrast to its inhibitory effect on follicular production of steroids, prolactin appears to be essential for LH stimulation of testosterone and oestradiol by the corpus luteum. In the absence of prolactin, luteal cells gradually ceased to respond to LH and decreased their output of testosterone and oestradiol. Prolactin administration to hypophysectomized rats did not affect luteal cell production of either steroid. However, corpora lutea of rats treated with prolactin responded to the hCG challenge with an increase in testosterone and oestradiol synthesis. In summary, results of this investigation demonstrate that prolactin affects follicular and luteal production of testosterone and oestradiol in opposite ways. It acts on the follicle to inhibit both basal and LH-stimulated production of testosterone and oestradiol, yet it markedly enhances LH stimulation of testosterone and oestradiol synthesis by luteal cells. J. Endocr. (1985) 104, 241–250


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