title: Immunoreactive ACTH in the cerebrospinal fluid of the rat: decrease after mediobasal hypothalamic lesion and hypophysectomy, increase after adrenalectomy.
abstract: The effect of various anaesthetics and of the manipulations of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical system (hypophysectomy, adrenalectomy and lesion of the mediobasal hypothalamus) was studied on immunoreactive-ACTH levels in the plasma and in the cerebrospinal fluid in the rat. The anaesthetics used (Hypnorm, pentobarbital, urethan and Ketanest) were without effect on immunoreactive-ACTH concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid. Immunoreactive-ACTH was significantly decreased after hypophysectomy and elevated after adrenalectomy in both cerebrospinal fluid and plasma. Destruction of the mediobasal hypothalamus resulted in reduced immunoreactive-ACTH content in the cerebrospinal fluid (about 20% of control) in both experiments, whereas immunoreactive-ACTH levels in the plasma of the lesioned rats were lower only in one of the two experiments performed. These data suggest that the main source of the immunoreactive-ACTH in the cerebrospinal fluid of the rat is the hypothalamus; the contribution of the pituitary gland being less than 50% of the radioimmunoassayable ACTH.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Barna
mesh_terms: D000315:Adrenalectomy; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D007016:Hypophysectomy; D007033:Hypothalamus, Middle / Q000502:physiology*; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D008297:Male; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone