The role of the hypophysis in the regulation of the daily rhythm of aldosterone secretion.
In 12 patients treated with prednisone for more than two months, the daily rhythm of aldosterone secretion was disturbed during treatment as well as in the first week after discontinuing the therapy. The secretion of aldosterone was at the lower limit of the normal range. The daily rhythm of aldosterone secretion became normal earlier than the rhythm of 17-hydrocorticosteroids, approximately at a time when ACTH secretion became normal. A shift in maximum aldosterone secretion from morning to the afternoon or evening hours was observed in eight patients as early as on the third day of dexamethasone administration. A similar disturbance in the daily rhythm of aldosterone secretion was found in five of six patients with pituitary dwarfism.
D000293:Adolescent; D000450:Aldosterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000187:drug effects; D004393:Dwarfism, Pituitary / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000502:physiology*; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013997:Time Factors
D000450:Aldosterone; D011241:Prednisone