Observations on the Weight of the Human Adrenal Gland and the Effect of Preparations of Corticotropin of Different Purity on the Weight and Morphology of the Human Adrenal Gland

The mean weight of 30 adrenal glands removed surgically from the right side of women with breast carcinoma is 4.0 g, with a narrow range (SD 0.80). This is considerably less than the weight of adrenals obtained at autopsy (6.0 g). Since there does not appear to be any variation in the weight of the right and the left gland, or between the sexes, this should be the yardstick against which enlargement of surgically removed adrenals should be assessed. Purified preparations of corticotropin lose most of their ability to cause an increase in adrenal weight, to stimulate mitotic activity in the cortex, and to cause lipid depletion of the cells of zona fasciculata. Thus, purification appears to remove a pituitary substance which potentiates the action of corticotropin.