PARS GLANDULARIS AND ADRENAL GLANDS 



Lacassagne and Raynaud (1937) stated that, although oes- 

 trone or oestradiol do not disturb the development of the 

 X-zone, these oestrogens do cause regressive changes in the 

 adrenals, e.g., loss of lipoids. The regressive changes were 

 attributed to an interference with pituitary secretion. 



Several reports on the morphology of the adrenal cortex 

 in relation to the pars glandularis also mention the medulla. 

 In Cutuly's quantitative morphological study (1936) of the 

 adrenals of normal and hypophysectomized rats of both 

 sexes the mean weight of the medulla of operated rats was 

 less than that of control animals. However, the difference 

 was not statistically significant. Davidson (1937) stated 

 that after the injection of adrenal cortical stimulating ex- 

 tract into hypophysectomized rats the medulla appeared 

 more normal. Specifically, he mentioned the absence of vac- 

 uoles, which sometimes appeared in the adrenal medulla of 

 operated, non-treated rats. Normal rats received daily in- 

 jections of a crude anterior pituitary extract for as long as 

 9 months in the experiments of Bierring (1935). He reported 

 that the medulla appeared hyperplastic and that enlarged 

 chromaffin cells were crowded with granules. The changes 

 observed by this author are the reverse of those attributed by 

 Anselmino and Hoffmann to medulla-stimulating ("adreno- 

 tropic") hormone. The observations do not offer convincing 

 evidence that the pars glandularis has an important influence 

 on the morphology of the adrenal medulla. 



Physiological and pharmacological correlations. — Grollman 

 and Firor (1935) used several methods to produce chronic 

 adrenal insufficiency in rats, cats, and dogs. They concluded 

 that if no attempt was made to treat the cortical deficiency 

 for a considerable time, adrenal cortical extract could not 

 cause a resumption of growth, a reappearance of normal sex- 

 ual performance, or the maintenance of a normal body-tem- 

 perature. The lack of benefit of adrenal cortical hormone 

 under such conditions was attributed to irreparable damage 

 of the pars glandularis; for anterior pituitary extract repaired 



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