Effects of fludrocortisone withdrawal on plasma angiotensin II, ACTH, vasopressin, and potassium in patients with Addison's disease

1987 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Oelkers ◽  
V. Bähr

Abstract. We attempted to answer to the question whether excessive rises in endogenous plasma angiotensin II (All) stimulate ACTH secretion by measuring PRA, All, AVP, ACTH, and cortisol in 8 patients with Addison's disease before and after withdrawal of fludrocortisone substitution. Blood was drawn at 14.30 h, exactly 6½ h after the morning dose of hydrocortisone had been taken. PRA and All were initially higher than normal in 4 patients. After withdrawal of fludrocortisone for 1 or 2 weeks, PRA and All rose markedly in 4 patients (up to 260 ng/l) without concomitant changes in plasma ACTH levels (r = −0.081, All vs ACTH). Changes in plasma cortisol could not have obscured a stimulatory effect of All on ACTH by variable feedback inhibition of ACTH release. The increase in plasma All levels in the 4 patients was larger than that observed in a previous study in normal subjects after rigorous dietary sodium restriction. In all patients, hyperkalaemia developed after fludrocortisone withdrawal, independent of changes in PRA and AII. Rises in PRA, All, and plasma potassium were partially reversed by increased sodium intake and further suppressed by resumption of fludrocortisone therapy. Plasma AVP remained in the normal range after fludrocortisone withdrawal, but was slightly elevated after increasing salt intake without fludrocortisone administration. Conclusions: 1) Rises of endogenous plasma All to levels tenfold higher than normal do not stimulate ACTH release. All is probably not a physiological modulator of ACTH secretion. 2) Mineralocorticoid substitution in Addison's disease should be monitored by plasma potassium measurement. Hyperkalaemia may coexist with normal PRA.

1985 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-455
Author(s):  
Hermann Haller ◽  
Volker Bähr ◽  
Petra Exner ◽  
Wolfgang Oelkers

Abstract. Short-term angiotensin II (All) infusions (3 ng/kg/min) were performed in 5 patients with Addison's disease in order to assess the effect of AII on ACTH secretion. Base line ACTH levels were elevated due to a 9-h time lag between hydrocortisone administration and onset of the study. In 2 separate infusion periods of 30-min duration, All had no unidirectional effect on plasma ACTH. Mean ACTH increased slightly but insignificantly. Mean blood pressure rose by about 10 mmHg. The degree of angiotensinaemia induced is probably similar to the state of moderate to severe sodium deficiency. Short-term changes of All in this order of magnitude have obviously no major effect on ACTH secretion.


1983 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-115
Author(s):  
P. Loli ◽  
F. Frascatani ◽  
D. Gelli ◽  
M. Maggioni ◽  
F. Muratori ◽  
...  

Abstract. In 14 patients with Addison's disease plasma levels of ACTH were studied after administration of a single oral dose (16 mg) of cyproheptadine. The drug administration was followed by an inhibition of ACTH release. These results support the view that cyproheptadine may exert an inhibitory effect on ACTH secretion in subjects whose corticosteroid feedback mechanism is normal. We hypothesize that the effect of cyproheptadine might be related to its anti-serotonin or anti-histaminergic action.


1991 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Shipston ◽  
F. A. Antoni

ABSTRACT Vasopressin and 41-residue corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF-41) are physiological mediators of the hypothalamic control of pituitary ACTH secretion, whilst adrenocortical glucocorticoids are the major inhibitory factors regulating ACTH output. In the present study it was investigated in vitro whether the characteristics of early glucocorticoid inhibition of stimulated ACTH secretion would differ depending on the nature of the stimulus and the temporal relationship between secretagogue and steroid. The experiments were carried out using perifused segments of rat adenohypophysis obtained from randomly cycling female rats. Repeated pulses (5 min) of CRF-41 or vasopressin were given at 1-h intervals for up to 7 h. The net release of ACTH became stable after the second secretagogue pulse. Administration of 0·1 μmol corticosterone/l 30 min before and during a 5-min pulse of 10 nmol CRF-41/l inhibited CRF-41-stimulated ACTH release to 60% of control. Stimulated hormone release remained suppressed at 90 min after the start of the corticosterone infusion and returned to control levels by 150 min. If corticosterone treatment (35 min total exposure) was started simultaneously with the CRF-41 pulse, no inhibitory effect of the steroid was observed at any subsequent time-point examined (60,90,120 and 150 min). In contrast, vasopressin-stimulated ACTH release was inhibited by approximately 50% when corticosterone was applied before, or simultaneously with, a 5-min pulse of 10 nmol vasopressin/l. The synthetic glucocorticoid type II receptor agonist RU28362, administered 30 min before and during a 5-min pulse of 10 nmol CRF-41/l, reduced CRF-41-stimulated ACTH release to 50% of control up to 2·5 h after the start of RU28362 application (although inhibition after 35 min exposure was not statistically significant). Inhibition of ACTH release stimulated by 10 nmol vasopressin/l was observed within 35 min of steroid application and was maintained up to 2·5 h after the initial application of RU28362. The action of RU28362 on CRF-41-stimulated ACTH release was blocked by inhibitors of transcription (actinomycin D) and translation (puromycin); notably these drugs did not modify the ACTH response to CRF-41. In contrast, actinomycin D as well as puromycin reduced vasopressin-stimulated ACTH release. The data suggest that: (1) the timing of steroid application is important in determining the early glucocorticoid inhibition of CRF-41- but not vasopressin-stimulated ACTH secretion; (2) CRF-41 and vasopressin mobilize different pools of ACTH from the anterior pituitary gland; (3) type II glucocorticoid receptors and synthesis of new protein(s) are involved in the early inhibitory action of glucocorticoids; (4) depending on the timing and nature of the incident secretagogue, differential negative feedback inhibition of ACTH secretion may occur at the pituitary level in vivo. Journal of Endocrinology (1991) 129, 261–268


1982 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Nicholls ◽  
M. Tree ◽  
J. H. Livesey ◽  
R. Fraser ◽  
J. J. Morton ◽  
...  

1. Potassium was infused intravenously in an incremental fashion and the plasma aldosterone responses were measured in conscious beagle dogs at five different intakes of dietary sodium. 2. Potassium/aldosterone dose—response curves were constructed for each dietary sodium regimen. 3. The rate of increase of plasma potassium during graded potassium infusion became progressively greater with increasing sodium depletion. 4. Regression lines of plasma aldosterone on plasma potassium were progressively elevated and steepened with increasing sodium depletion. 5. The alteration of these dose-response curves could in part have been the result of chronic elevation of plasma potassium and angiotensin II, and depression of plasma sodium, with sodium deprivation. 6. By contrast, acute changes in plasma angiotensin II or sodium concentrations across incremental infusions of potassium did not explain the progressive changes in the potassium/aldosterone dose—response curves. 7. The steepest part of the plasma aldosterone response curve was in the plasma potassium range 4–6 mmol/l. 8. Maximum achieved aldosterone levels were similar to or greater than those attained during angiotensin II infusion in previous studies in beagle dogs. 9. Potassium, like angiotensin II and adrenocorticotropic hormone, becomes a more effective stimulus to aldosterone with sodium depletion, thereby facilitating the preservation of sodium homoeostasis.


1977 ◽  
Vol 9 (02) ◽  
pp. 150-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Voigt ◽  
H. Fehm ◽  
R. Lang ◽  
K. Beinert ◽  
E. Pfeiffer

1980 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jara-Albarrán ◽  
J. Bayort ◽  
A. Caballero ◽  
R. Eusebio ◽  
P. García-Peris ◽  
...  

Abstract. Somatostatin (250 μg as a bolus iv and 250 μg as a I h infusion) was administered to 6 patients with primary adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease). The fall in plasma ACTH during the infusion period ranged between 0–30% with a mean reduction of 11.2 ± 11.6%. These findings suggest that with the method employed, somatostatin is not an inhibitor of ACTH secretion in a condition in which glucocorticoids are lacking.


The Lancet ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 300 (7787) ◽  
pp. 1106-1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.J. Brown ◽  
A.F. Lever ◽  
J.J. Morton ◽  
R. Fraser ◽  
D.R. Love ◽  
...  

1981 ◽  
Vol 61 (s7) ◽  
pp. 269s-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith A. Whitworth ◽  
Dianne Saines ◽  
Robyn Thatcher ◽  
Aldona Butkus ◽  
B. A. Scoggins ◽  
...  

1. The blood pressure, renal and metabolic effects of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) have been studied in six normotensive subjects and two patients with Addison's disease on maintenance steroid therapy. 2. In normotensive subjects, 5 days ACTH treatment (0.5 mg 12 hourly) was associated with a rise in systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure. There was a small rise in diastolic pressure but no consistent change in heart rate. Plasma sodium increased and plasma potassium fell. Serum creatinine and urea concentrations were unchanged. Fluid intake increased and urine output was unchanged but ACTH withdrawal was associated with a diuresis. There was an initial reduction in urinary sodium excretion and a natriuresis after ACTH withdrawal. Plasma volume and body weight rose. 3. ACTH produced increases in plasma cortisol, 11-deoxycortisol, corticosterone, deoxycorticosterone, aldosterone, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone and 17α,20α-dihydroxyprogesterone. Plasma renin concentration fell. 4. Patients with Addison's disease showed no change in blood pressure or in any other metabolic variable studied. 5. The effects of ACTH in man resembled those found in sheep.


2007 ◽  
Vol 293 (1) ◽  
pp. R251-R256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Franco ◽  
Flavio Martínez ◽  
Yasmir Quiroz ◽  
Othir Galicia ◽  
Rocio Bautista ◽  
...  

Renal immune cell infiltration and cells expressing angiotensin II (AII) in tubulointerstitial areas of the kidney are features of experimental models of salt-sensitive hypertension (SSHTN). A high-salt intake tends to suppress circulating AII levels, but intrarenal concentrations of AII have not been investigated in SSHTN. This study explored the relationship between these features to gain insight into the pathophysiology of SSHTN. Plasma angiotensin II (AII) and renal interstitial AII (microdialysis technique) and the infiltration of macrophages, lymphocytes, and AII-positive cells were determined in SSHTN induced by 5 wk of a high-salt diet (HSD) after short-term infusion of AII in rats with ( n = 10) and without ( n = 11) treatment with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and in control rats fed a high- ( n = 7) and normal ( n = 11) salt diet. As in previous studies, MMF did not affect AII-associated hypertension but reduced the interstitial inflammation and the SSHTN in the post-AII-period. During the HSD period, the AII group untreated with MMF had mean ± SD) low plasma (2.4 ± 1.4 pg/ml) and high interstitial AII concentration (1,310 ± 208 pg/ml); MMF treatment resulted in a significantly lower interstitial AII (454 ± 128 pg/ml). Renal AII concentration and the number of tubulointerstitial AII-positive cells were correlated. Blood pressure correlated positively with interstitial AII and negatively with plasma AII, thus giving compelling evidence of the paramount role of the AII within the kidney in the AII-induced model of salt-driven hypertension.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document