Hypertrophied adrenocortical tissue of the Australian brush-tailed possum (Trichosurus vulpecula): uniformity during reproduction

Abstract

ABSTRACT Adrenal glands from normal male and female brush-tailed possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) were weighed and sectioned to investigate reported changes in the relative size of the hypertrophied region of the cortex during the reproductive cycle. Total adrenal gland weight in normal females averaged 120 mg/kg body weight and the hypertrophied region occupied 40% of the gland volume. No significant variation was found in these figures between glands from pregnant, lactating and cyclic possums. In addition, no cyclic pattern of cellular changes was found in the hypertrophied region. These results differ from views expressed in the current literature which are based on the original description of the hypertrophied zone. J. Endocr. (1984) 101, 263–267