Precerebellin (Cbln)-related peptides are known to modulate the secretory activity and growth of the adrenal gland. However, precise expression of the Cbln-related genes and Cbln1 peptide in the adrenal remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated, using RT-PCR, QPCR, Western blotting, immunohistochemistry and hormonal assays, their expression in the adrenals of adult rats and in the course of p...

The adrenal cortex of mammals consists of three concentric zones, i.e., the zona glomerulosa (zG), the zona fasciculata (zF), and the zona reticularis (zR), which secrete mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, and adrenal androgens, respectively. In 1994, we identified immunohistochemically a new zone between zG and zF of the rat adrenal gland. The zone appeared to be devoid of any significant en...

Steroid hormone biosynthesis by the fetal adrenal gland is crucial to the integrity and continuation of pregnancy, growth of the fetal and maternal tissues, as well as perinatal homeostatic adaptation for extrauterine survival. The adrenal cortex in the primate undergoes a remarkable morphological and functional remodeling such that the fetal adrenal cortex transforms into an adult adrenal cort...

Steroid hormone biosynthesis by the fetal adrenal gland is crucial to the integrity and continuation of pregnancy, growth of the fetal and maternal tissues, as well as perinatal homeostatic adaptation for extrauterine survival. The adrenal cortex in the primate undergoes a remarkable morphological and functional remodeling such that the fetal adrenal cortex transforms into an adult adrenal cort...

The pineal hormone melatonin participates in circadian, seasonal, and reproductive physiology. The presence of melatonin binding sites in human brain and peripheral tissues is well documented. However, in the mammalian adrenal gland, low-affinity melatonin binding sites have been detected only in the rat by some but not all authors. Conflicting evidence for a regulatory role of melatonin on adr...

The direct oxidative pathway of glucose utilization or the hexose monophosphate shunt has received a great deal of attention recently, and numerous attempts have been made to evaluate its importance in various tissues. Glock and McLean, in making a survey of the levels of enzymes of this pathway in a number of mammalian tissues, recently reported unusually high activity in the adrenal glands, p...

BACKGROUND The anatomy of the adrenal glands has been widely studied in many species of domestic and wild mammals. However, there are no available literature reports describing the morphology and morphometry of the adrenal glands of the European bison (Bison bonasus). RESULTS The study was conducted on 97 European bison of both sexes. The growth of the adrenal glands corresponded to the growt...

AIM 11beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11beta HSD) catalyzes the interconversion of glucocorticoids to inert metabolites in man and rodents and plays a crucial role in regulating corticosteroid hormone action. The physiological role and regulation of 11beta HSD type 2 in the adrenal gland remains obscure. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to establish the pattern of 11beta HSD type ...

Invariably in every normal rat a single dose of 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene, by mouth or injected in a vein, was found to cause apoplexy and massive necrosis in the inner zones of the adrenal cortex; the zona glomerulosa, the adrenal medulla, and a small region of cortex adjacent to the great adrenal vessels were spared from damage. DMBA caused these selective lesions in females and in male...

The enzymes required to convert the prohormone angiotensin I into angiotensins II and III, secretagogues of aldosterone, are enriched in association with capillary endothelium isolated from rat adrenal cortex. Thus the secretion of aldosterone may be controlled, in part, by processing of peptides occurring within the adrenal gland itself.