Ultrastructural changes in the rat liver following protracted treatment with pregnenolone-16 -carbonitrile and digitoxin

Effect of pregnenolone-16alpha-carbonitrile (PCN) on drug response in man

Pregnenolone-16alpha-carbonitrile (PCN), which alters drug responses and induces hepatic microsomal drugs-metabolizing enzymes in experimental animals, is well-tolerated in man. There were no marked changes in the concentrations of blood sugar and urea; marked changes in the concentrations of blood sugar and urea; bromsulphophthalein (BSP) clearance; serum alkaline phosphatase activity; hematocrit, erythrocyte and leukocyte counts; as well as in ecg patterns. When the steroid was given by mouth for 4 days to patients treated with electroshock for psychiatric disorders, it decreased suxamethonium-induced skeletal muscle fasciculation and shortened thiopentone as well as propanidid anaesthesia. Breathing was resumed more rapidly than in control subjects. The protective effect of PCN is probably mediated through induction of activation or hepatic drug-metabolizing enzymes, or both.

Fine structure and morphogenesis of spironolactone bodies in the zona glomerulosa of the human adrenal cortex

Numerous spironolactone bodies have been detected in the zona glomerulosa cells of the adrenal cortex of a 36-year-old spironolactone-treated woman whose non-tumorous right adrenal gland was removed surgically because of primary hyperaldosteronism. Electron microscopy revealed spherical laminated whorls which consisted of a central core composed of an amorphous electron-dense material surrounded by numerous smooth-walled concentric membranes. Continuous with and deriving from the endoplasmic reticulum, they were present in viable cells and were not associated with ultrastructural features indicating cellular injury. Cytoplasmic inclusions similar to spironolactone bodies can be detected in other organs after the administration of various compounds. Thus, they can be regarded as neither specific to spironolactone treatment nor exclusively inducible in the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal cortex.