Failure of Adrenocorticotropin and Various Stimuli to Deplete the Ascorbic Acid Content of the Adrenal Gland of the Quail1

WITHIN recent years a number of procedures have been devised to determine the secretory activity of the adrenal cortex. One of the tests most commonly used is the loss of ascorbic acid from the adrenal gland. The depletion of the adrenal gland of its ascorbic acid and cholesterol following the administration of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) has been amply confirmed by many investigators since it was first reported by Sayers, Sayers, Fry, White and Long (1944) and Sayers, Sayers, Liang and Long (1947). These investigators reported a maximum drop in the adrenal ascorbic acid within one hour and in the adrenal cholesterol within four hours after the injection of ACTH. Exposure of normal animals to such stressful stimuli as cold, scalding, formaldehyde injections etc. likewise produced a decrease in both adrenal ascorbic acid and cholesterol. As these changes did not occur in hypophysectomized animals it was concluded that the effect was mediated through the release of ACTH from the pituitary gland.