LIPIDS PRESENT IN ADRENAL GLANDS 765 



Table 18 summarizes these data for Loligo pealii (Atlantic squid or cuttle- 

 fish, calamary), Limulus spp. (King crab), and Libinia spp. (spider crab). 



6. Lipids Present in the Adrenal Glands 



The importance of the lipid composition of the adrenal glands is entirely 

 out of line with the relatively small weight of the organ. Not only does 

 the adrenal cortex have a high concentration of cortisone and related ster- 

 oids and also of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), but, in addition, large amounts 

 of cholesterol and an unusually high concentration of arachidonic acid are 

 also present in this portion of the gland. Although the adrenal medulla 

 is of considerable importance as a site of the production of epinephrine 

 (adrenalin) , it is of less interest insofar as its lipid composition is concerned 

 than is the cortex. 



The adrenal gland and the pancreas are unique in containing appreciable 

 amounts of monoglycerides. Reichstein, 330 as well as Wintersteiner and 

 Pfiffner, 331 identified a-monopalmitin as a minor constituent of the adrenal 

 lipids. Although Jones and her co-workers 26 were unable to confirm these 

 earlier results, they attribute their failure to the small amount of tissue 

 which was available. 



(1) Cholesterol in the Adrenal Glands 



As early as 1915, Borberg 332 reported that the lipids in the adrenal cortex 

 (of horses, guinea pigs, rabbits, and cats) consisted principally of cholesterol 

 esters and free fatty acids, most of which were unsaturated ; no triglycerides 

 were recorded as present. On the other hand, Sorg and Jaffe 333 found no 

 cholesterol esters in the adrenal cortex of cattle. Bar and Jaffe 334 re- 

 port that cholesterol is normally absent, or that it occurs only in minimal 

 amounts, in rabbit suprarenal cortex; the principal lipids found are phos- 

 pholipids and cerebrosides. After cholesterol was fed, large amounts of 

 this steroid were found in the suprarenals, as well as in the ovaries, of rab- 

 bits. 334 



The cholesterol content of the adrenal cortex varies markedly with the 

 species. In the cow and sheep, cholesterol has been reported to account 

 for 0.45% of the moist weight of the suprarenal cortex. 335 Brown et al. 33& 



330 T. Reichstein, Helv. Chim. Acta, 19, 29-63 (1936). 



331 O. Wintersteiner and J. J. Pfiffner, J. Biol. Chem., 116, 291-305 (1936). 



332 N. C. Borberg, Skand. Arch. Physiol, 32, 287-354 (1915). 



333 K. Sorg and R. Jaffe, Zentr. allgem. Pathol, 35, 353-359 (1924). 



334 R. Bar and R. Jaff6, Z. Konstitutionslehre, 10, 321-328 (1925). 



336 C. I. Parhon and M. Cahane, Compt. rend. soc. biol, 107, 836-837 (1931). 

 336 J. B. Brown, R. A. Knouff, M. M. Conlin, and B. M. Schneider, Proc. Soc. Exptl. 

 Biol Med., 37, 203-205 (1937). 



