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CHANGES INDUCED IN THE ADRENAL CORTICAL ZONES BY OVARIAN HORMONES

From the Department of Biology, University of Oregon EUGENE, OREGON

Abstract

THAT THE FEMALE gonadic hormones influence the adrenal glands in rodents has been demonstrated for the female rat (Ellison and Birch, 1936; Anderson, 1934), mouse (Danner, 1938) and guinea pig (Allen and Bern, 1942). Changes in the adrenal cortex have also been noted during the reproductive cycle indicating a correlation between ovarian physiology and adrenal cortical functions (Anderson and Kennedy; 1932; Zalesky, 1934; Zuckerman, Bourne and Lewes, 1938). In all of these studies the initial effect of estrogen injection was a marked hypertrophy of the adrenal cortex. Similar treatment using progesterone yielded conflicting pictures with Clausen (1940) reporting an actual decrease in cortex while Selye, Brown and Collip (1936) and Selye (1940) noted no effect.

Accepting the hypothesis presented by Bennett (1939) and Deane and Greep (1946) indicating specialized zones for active production of adrenocortical hormones, it is the purpose of this report to present data concerning the influence exerted by natural ovarian hormones on the individual cortical layers of the adrenal.

Footnotes

¹ Estrogen, in the form of Progynon-B, and progesterone, in the form of Proluton, were supplied bjf the Schering Corporation, Inc., Bloomfield, N. J., through the courtesy of Dr. Erwin Schwenk.

Received May 1, 1947.