Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact

Submit a comment

Glucocorticoid and Mineralocorticoid Effects on Adrenocorticotropin and β-Endorphin in the Adrenalectomized Rat
Alan T. Lim, … , Judith Clements, John W. Funder
Alan T. Lim, … , Judith Clements, John W. Funder
Published May 1, 1982
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 1982;69(5):1191-1198. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI110556.
View: Text | PDF
Research Article

Glucocorticoid and Mineralocorticoid Effects on Adrenocorticotropin and β-Endorphin in the Adrenalectomized Rat

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Immunoreactive ACTH (ir-ACTH) and immunoreactive β-endorphin (ir-βEP) were determined in plasma, anterior pituitary, neuro-intermediate lobe, and hypothalamus of sham-adrenalectomized rats, and adrenalectomized rats given six daily injections of vehicle (oil), dexamethasone, 9α-fluorocortisol or deoxycorticosterone. 6 d after adrenalectomy, anterior pituitary ir-ACTH and ir-βEP were double, and plasma levels approximately fivefold those in controls. Adrenalectomy did not alter hypothalamic levels of either peptide, or ir-βEP in neuro-intermediate lobe, in which tissue ir-ACTH was below detection limit at routine dilutions. Dexamethasone (0.2-200 μg/d) concurrently suppressed plasma ir-ACTH and ir-βEP, with a near maximal effect at 20 μg, and a half-maximal effect between 2 and 6 μg; similar dose-response characteristics were found for thymolysis. Step-wise increases in anterior pituitary content of both peptides were found, with no change in hypothalamic levels of either peptide, or neuro-intermediate lobe ir-βEP. 9α-fluorocortisol (0.2-200 μg/d) produced plasma, anterior pituitary, and hypothalamic effects equivalent to dexamethasone, but with one-tenth the potency. Unlike dexamethasone, higher doses of 9α-fluorocortisol significantly elevated neuro-intermediate lobe ir-βEP. Deoxycorticosterone (2-2,000 μg/d) produced no significant changes in plasma, anterior pituitary or hypothalamic levels of either peptide; like 9α-fluorocortisol, doses of >60 μg/d significantly elevated neuro-intermediate lobe ir-βEP. Whereas ir-ACTH and ir-βEP synthesis in and release from the anterior pituitary are under complex negative feedback glucocorticoid control, there exists a mineralocorticoid-specific effect on neuro-intermediate lobe content of ir-βEP.

Authors

Alan T. Lim, B. A. K. Khalid, Judith Clements, John W. Funder

×

Guidelines

The Editorial Board will only consider comments that are deemed relevant and of interest to readers. The Journal will not post data that have not been subjected to peer review; or a comment that is essentially a reiteration of another comment.

  • Comments appear on the Journal’s website and are linked from the original article’s web page.
  • Authors are notified by email if their comments are posted.
  • The Journal reserves the right to edit comments for length and clarity.
  • No appeals will be considered.
  • Comments are not indexed in PubMed.

Specific requirements

  • Maximum length, 400 words
  • Entered as plain text or HTML
  • Author’s name and email address, to be posted with the comment
  • Declaration of all potential conflicts of interest (even if these are not ultimately posted); see the Journal’s conflict-of-interest policy
  • Comments may not include figures
This field is required
This field is required
This field is required
This field is required
This field is required
This field is required

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts