title: Relationship of nocturnal plasma bioactive and immunoactive ACTH concentrations to cortisol secretion in normal men.
abstract: Plasma concentration of ACTH and cortisol were measured at 15-min intervals from 22.30 to 07.00 h in 8 normal male volunteers. ACTH was measured both by a modified and sensitized isolated adrenal cell bioassay and by radioimmunoassay. Within-subject correlations between bioactive ACTH and cortisol concentrations ranged between 0.86 and 0.95, with an average correlation of 0.93 (86% shared variance). In contrast, within-subject correlations between immunoassayable ACTH and cortisol ranged between 0.03 and 0.92, with an average correlation of 0.69 (48% shared variance). These results suggest that plasma ACTH concentrations determined by RIA might not accurately reflect the capacity of plasma to regulate the secretion of adrenal glucocorticoids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Poland
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hanada
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Rubin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000378:metabolism; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D003907:Dexamethasone; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D006854:Hydrocortisone