Metabolic clearance rate of adrenocorticotropin in the rat

Abstract

The metabolic clearance rate (MCR) of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) was estimated after the intravenous infusion of graded rates of the hormone (40–2560 μU/min per 100 g body weight) in rats pretreated with chlorpromazine, morphine, and Nembutal, a preparation which proved effective in blocking endogenous ACTH release. The hormone was infused over a period of 45 min, at which time the plasma ACTH concentration had reached a steady state. A specific and sensitive bioassay, based on the corticosterone production of dispersed adrenal cells, was used to measure the plasma ACTH concentration. With increasing infusion rates of ACTH, a threefold decrease in the MCR of ACTH was observed. Previous studies of our group have shown that the MCR of corticosterone increases as a function of the infusion rate of the steroid. It appears, therefore, that the metabolism of these two hormonal links of the hypothalarno–pituitary–adrenocortical axis vary in opposite fashions as a function of the secretion rate of the hormone.