LIPIDS PRESENT IN ADRENAL GLANDS 769 



The reasons for the high cholesterol levels in the suprarenal cortex are 

 not entirely clear. Chauffard et a/. 356 were of the opinion that the supra- 

 renals were concerned with synthesis and esterification of cholesterol. More- 

 over, Srere et al. 3bl demonstrated the synthesis of cholesterol from labeled 

 acetate in the adrenal cortex of the rat. However, Baumann and Holly 358 

 reported that no significant change in the blood cholesterol or lipid phos- 

 phorus obtained in adrenalectomized rats up to the time that the animals 

 were moribund. This would indicate that the adrenal gland was not the 

 organ of synthesis or even an important site of storage of cholesterol. 

 Similar results on cholesterol were reported by Randies and Knudson. 359 

 On the other hand, this hypothesis is open to question, in view of the finding 

 of Joelson and Schorr, 360 and of Yeakel and Blanchard, 361 that a hypo- 

 cholesterolemia and a general hypolipemia obtained after adrenal excision. 

 A. possible explanation for these divergent results may be that adequate 

 provision was not made to prevent hemoconcentration and the attendant 

 disturbance of circulation resulting from the upset in the salt balance 

 following adrenalectomy. 



Another possible explanation for the role of cholesterol in the adrenal cor- 

 tical tissue is that it serves as the precursor of the adrenocortical hormones. 

 That this may be the case is indicated by the fact that the injection of 

 ACTH results in a marked decrease in the cholesterol content of cortical 

 tissue. 347 Moreover, Marx and his collaborators, 362 as well as Ershoff and 

 Marx, 363 demonstrated a marked protective action on the part of dietary 

 cholesterol in experimental thyrotoxicosis in rats. One possible explana- 

 tion for these findings is that the adrenocortical hormones are produced at 

 such a high rate, in response to the stimulus of the thyroid hormone, as to 

 result in a depletion in cortical cholesterol. When the rats can no longer 

 produce adequate adrenocortical hormones, death ensues. However, 

 when cholesterol is administered simultaneously with thyroid, a sufficient 

 amount of the precursor of the adrenocortical hormones is made available 

 to the cortical tissue to insure a continued supply of these hormones, even 

 at an elevated level. 



356 A. Chauffard, G. Laroche, and A. Grigaut, Ann. mid. (Paris), 8, 149-172 (1920). 

 367 P. A. Srere, I. L. Dauben, and W. G. Dauben, J. Biol. Chem., 176, 829-833 (1948). 

 358 E. J. Baumann and O. M. Holly, /. Biol. Chem., 55, 457-475 (1923). 

 369 F. S. Randies and A. Knudson, J. Biol. Chem., 76, 89-93 (1928). 



360 J. J. Joelson and E. Schorr, Arch. Internal Med., 34, 841-866 (1924). 



361 E. H. Yeakel and E. W. Blanchard, J. Biol. Chem., 128, 31-38 (1938). 



362 W. Marx, E. Meserve, and H. J. Deuel, Jr., Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 67, 385- 

 387 (1948). 



363 B. H. Ershoff and W. Marx, Exptl. Med. Surg., 6, 145-148 (1948). 



