A comparison of the conversion in vitro of pregnenolone sulphate and pregnenolone to steroid hormones by tissue from a clear cell adenoma of the adrenal gland

Tissue from a clear cell adenoma of the adrenal gland was incubated simultaneously with [7α-3H]pregnenolone sulphate and [4-14C]pregnenolone in Krebs—Ringer bicarbonate-glucose solution. Evidence was obtained for the conversion of pregnenolone sulphate to cortisol and corticosterone. The differences in the ability of the tissue to convert the sulphate and the free steroid to corticosteroids and androgens are discussed in relation to theories on the functional zonation of the human adrenal cortex.

The steroid content of adrenal adenomas and measurements of aldosterone production in patients with essential hypertension and primary aldosteronism

The content of aldosterone, corticosterone, and cortisol has been assayed in normal adrenal tissue obtained at autopsy and in adrenal adenomas from both normotensive and hypertensive patients obtained at autopsy and from patients with primary aldosteronism obtained at surgery. The content of aldosterone and corticosterone in the adenomas of patients with essential hypertension was similar to that of normal adrenal tissue and much less than that of adenomas from patients with primary aldosteronism. Since these results do not appear to reflect various extraneous factors such as assay technique, degradation of steroids, and patient selection, they suggest that most adrenal adenomas found in patients with essential hypertension are not associated with increased aldosterone production. The presence of such adenomas should not, in itself, be considered evidence for primary aldosteronism. The excretion or secretion of aldosterone in 43 hypertensive patients was found to be similar to that of 39 normotensive patients. These results suggest that primary aldosteronism is rarely the cause of "essential" hypertension.