Direct effect of histamine on cortisol and corticosterone production by isolated dog adrenal cells

Corticosterone secretion in response to serotonin and ACTH by perfused adrenal of normal and athymic nude mice

Adrenocortical secretory responses to chemical mediators and ACTH in CD1 ICR nu/nu (athymic) mice were compared with those in CD1 ICR (normal) mice. The bilateral adrenals of normal or athymic mice were perfused in situ with artificial medium equilibrated by 95% O2 + 5% CO2. Infusion of serotonin induced the secretory response of corticosterone significantly at 10 nM and markedly at 100 nM and the response at 1000 or 10000 nM declined as compared with that at 100nM in normal mice. Total corticosterone secretion in response to 100 or 1000 nM serotonin in athymic mice was about one fourth that in normal mice, respectively. Corticosterone responses to ACTH at the range of 10 to 300 pg/ml in athymic mice were comparable to those in normal mice. Infusion of histamine, platelet activating factor(PAF), or compound 48/80 did not induce significant corticosterone response in both normal and athymic mice. The data suggest that the congenital defect of the thymus and/or hair causes the hyporesponsiveness of adrenocortical cells to serotonin although the adrenal cortex of athymic mice is able to perform its function in response to ACTH.

Effect of platelet-activating factor on cortisol and corticosterone secretion by perfused dog adrenal

Administration of platelet-activating factor (PAF) to perfused adrenal increased cortisol and corticosterone secretion. With hexadecyl PAF (C16PAF; 1-O-hexadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine), the increase was significant at 1 nM and maximal at 10 nM. The responses to 10 nM octadecyl PAF (C18PAF; 1-O-octadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) were one fourth of those to 10 nM C16PAF. The addition of C16PAF to dispersed adrenal cells significantly increased cortisol and corticosterone production at 0.1 nM and 10 nM, respectively. C16PAF was about 1000 times more potent than histamine on a molar basis in respect to cortisol response in both perfused adrenal and dispersed adrenal cells. The results suggest that PAF induces cortisol release from dog adrenal.

H1 action of histamine on aldosterone and cortisol secretion by perfused dog adrenal

The left adrenal of hypophysectomized-nephrectomized dogs was perfused in situ with artificial medium equilibrated with 95% O2-5% CO2. Repeated secretory responses of aldosterone to ACTH and histamine were almost reproducible during 2 h of perfusion, but those of cortisol and corticosterone gradually reduced. The secretion of aldosterone in response to histamine markedly increased at 1 microM and those of cortisol and corticosterone significantly increased at 1 and 10 microM, respectively. The secretory response of aldosterone to 10 microM histamine was comparable with that to 300 microU/ml ACTH, but the secretory responses of cortisol and corticosterone to 10 microM histamine were very much lower than those to 1 microU/ml ACTH. The secretory responses of these three steroids to 10 microM histamine were almost completely depressed by continuous administration of 10 microM pyrilamine maleate, but not abolished by that of 100 microM metiamide. The secretory responses of these three steroids to 10 microM histamine were slightly depressed by continuous infusion of 10 microM methysergide maleate. These results suggest that histamine at pathophysiological concentrations stimulates the secretion of aldosterone markedly, and those of cortisol and corticosterone slightly, via an H1 receptor of adrenocortical cells in the dog.

Effect of histamine on blood flow to the adrenal glands of pigs

Blood flow to the adrenal glands was measured with radioactive microspheres labeled with 85Sr in 25-37 kg pigs following the intravenous infusion of physiological saline solution or histamine solution (2 micrograms/kg/min) for 60 minutes. Total blood flow averaged 2.28 ml/min/gland for control pigs and 4.38 ml/min/gland for histamine-treated pigs (P less than .0005). Mean blood flow to the adrenal glands of histamine-treated pigs (3.15 ml/min/g) was 82% higher than that of control pigs (1.73 ml/min/g); the difference was highly significant (P less than .0005). The result of this study showed that histamine caused an increased blood flow to the porcine adrenal glands.