VIII. EFFKCTS OF DEFICIENCY IN ANIMALS 297 



volume than did those of normal adrenals and concluded that, enlargement 

 of the glands in scurvy appeared to be a result of simple swelling rather 

 than a true hypertrophy. Stepto et a/.,''* however, held that there is a true 

 hypertrophy, since there in an actual increase in dry weight, particularly 

 in the protein content. 



Bessey et al}^^ reported that the most characteristic lesion in the adrenals 

 of scorbutic guinea pigs was the depletion of fat and cholesterol from the 

 cortex in the final stages of the disease with little reduction in the fat content 

 until several days before death. Their results confirmed Nagayama and 

 Taga>'a's"^ ])revious finding of a decrease of cholesterol in scurvy. The 

 amount of cholesterol appeared to be directly proportional to the amount 

 of fat in the fasiculata. That the decrease in adrenal lipids may be a conse- 

 quence of inanition was suggested by later studies of Bald^^^n et al}^^ in 

 which they found little difference in the amounts of lipids between scurvy 

 animals and pair-fed controls. Blumenthal and Loeb^** showed that en- 

 largement of the adrenals in the guinea pig may occur as a result of under- 

 feeding. Howe\'er, results obtained by Oesterling and Long'^-" indicated 

 an effect of lack of the vitamin on adrenal lipids not attributable to inani- 

 tion. In paired-feeding experiments with animals somewhat older than those 

 employed in the experiments of Baldwin et al., they found that in early 

 scurvy (17 days after the last vitamin C injection) the adrenal cholesterol 

 was significantly higher than that of the controls, whereas in late scurvy 

 (27 days after the last injection) there was a marked decrease in cholesterol 

 compared with that of the pair-fed controls. Stepto et aZ.,"^ on the other 

 hand, reported a progressive decrease in cholesterol concentration in the 

 adrenals })eginning between the seventh and fourteenth day of depletion, 



Hoerr^*-*' observed that in acute scurvy in guinea pigs the cells of the 

 adrenals did not show marked degenerative changes but in the chronic 

 form there was some degeneration of the reticularis and hypertrophy of the 

 endothelium. Hemorrhages, if present, were small. The most notable change 

 in the cells was in their increased lipoid content. All cells from the glomem- 

 losa to reticulosa appeared fatty. 



Fox and Levy^*' described a flabby, wrinkled condition of the adrenals 

 of guinea pigs which had been supplied with partially oxidized orange 

 juice as an antiscorbutic. On microscopic examination, the medulla ap- 



"8 R. C. Stepto, C. L. Pirani, C. F. Consolazio, and J. H. Bell, Endocrinology 49, 755 



(1951). 

 "9 T. Nagayama and T. Tagaya, ,/. Biochem. {Tokyo) 11, 225 (1929). 

 18" X. R. Baldwin, H. E. Longenecker, and C. G. King, Arch. Biochem. 5, 137 (1944). 

 '8' H. T. Blumenthal and L. Loeb, Am. J. Pathol. 18, 615 (1942). 

 185* M. .1. Oesterling and C. X. H. Long, Science 113, 241 (lOolV 

 '8=h X. Hoerr. Am. J. Anat. 48, 139 (1931). 

 18' F. W. Fox and L. F. Levy, Biochem. J. 30, 211 (1936). 



