Acth Levels in Plasma in Preoperative and Surgically Stressed Patients.

ACTH levels in human plasma during surgical stress have not been estimated previously. Much evidence (1-7) has accumulated, however, concerning variations in adrenal cortical steroids in plasma during and after surgery. Although an increase in plasma ACTH with stress has been noted in animal experiments, it has been suggested by some investigators that elevation of corticosteroids in plasma after surgery is controlled by changes in hepatic function and concentration of plasma corticosteroid rather than by a "direct drive" of ACTH release (8, 9). This study was undertaken to determine the ACTH content of plasma samples obtained from