Regeneration Adrenal

Birmingham MK (1973) Reduction by 9-tetrahydrocannabinol in the blood pressure of hypertensive rats bearing regenerated adrenal glands. Br J Pharmacol 48 169-171... 

Although the mechanism of action of 2-mercaptoethanol may not be simple, its probable action is the reduction of disulfide bonds to sulfhy-dryl groups in a, a -dipyridyl- or heat-treated apoadrenodoxin, or regeneration of sulfhydryl groups from mercaptides in PCMB-treated apoadrenodoxin. At the present time, all three laboratories, that is Bayer s Rabinowitz s, and ours, agree on the necessity of the addition of Na2S as a labile sulfur source for better or perfect reconstitution of clostridial, spinach, and adrenal non-heme iron proteins from various types of apoproteins. 

Why is vitamin C used so extensively as an electron donor There are two main reasons. First, vitamin C is very soluble in water, so it can be concentrated in confined spaces surrounded by membranes (which are made of lipids impermeable to vitamin C). The synthesis of noradrenaline from dopamine, for example, takes place in small membrane-bounded spaces, or vesicles, within cells of the cortex of the adrenal glands. The vitamin C concentration inside these vesicles reaches about 100 times that of blood plasma. As vitamin C is consumed by the enzyme dopamine mono-oxygenase, electrons are passed across the vesicle membrane (via an iron-containing protein, cytochrome b65l), to regenerate vitamin C within the vesicles. Thus, for periods of days or weeks, the intracellular vitamin C needed for physiological tasks can be insulated from changes in plasma levels caused by variations in diet, and maintained at the ideal levels for a particular reaction. 

Yes. With time, the adrenal cortex will regenerate and production of viable gametes will resume. 

As discussed previously, prolonged therapy, in particular, will cause adrenal atrophy. The degree of atrophy is dose-dependent, and, therefore, administration of progressively smaller doses over time will allow the adrenal cortex to regenerate, while supplementing endogenous cortisol levels. 

Dissociation of enzyme and membrane synthesis during regeneration has also been reported for the mitochondria of the rat adrenal cortex (Yago et al, 1972). After adrenal enucleation, cellular proliferation occurs, and, in about 20 days, the gland has regenerated to approximately its original size. Enucleation leads to rapid multiplication of mitochondria much smaller than normal. These mitochondria increase in size by accumulation of protein and phospholipid, the latter primarily in the inner mitochondrial membrane. In addition to the usual cytochromes, the inner membranes of adrenal cortical mitochondria of beef, swine, and rats possess a special cytochrome, cytochrome P-450, usually found in the endoplasmic reticulum. Cytochrome P-450 is carbon monoxide-sensitive... 

The simple experiment of removing the pituitary and from the sella turcica to another site of the body also demonstrated the role of the hypothalamus in the control of anterior pituitary function. When the transplanted tissue is placed in a site remote from the sella turcica, for example, the anterior chamber of the eye, the kidney capsule or temporal lobe of the brain, partial or complete atrophy of the ovaries, testes, reproductive tracts, thyroid gland and adrenal cortices is observed together with a reduction in the rate of body growth. When, however, the transplanted tissue is placed in the vicinity of the hypothalamus and pituitary stalk, regeneration of the hypophysial portal vessels occurs and anterior pituitary function is restored as shown by the maintenance of reproductive, thyroid and adrenocortical activity [5]. 

Gas Chromatographic Measurement of Peripheral Plasma 18-Hydroxydeoxy-corticosterone in Adrenal Regeneration Hypertension Endocrinology 86(3) 668-677 (1970) ... 

In some types of secretory vesicles, such as chromaffin vesicles of the adrenal medulla, ascorbate serves as a one-electron donor for hormone hydroxylation by intravesicular monooxygenases, yielding AFR. Since ascorbate is present in limited amounts inside chromaffin granules and its uptake into the vesicles is too slow to explain the observed monooxygenase activity, it must be regenerated and recycled using cytosolic reducing equivalents. Ascorbate and cytochrome have been identified as the cytosolic donor and the transmembrane electron carrier, respectively (Njus et al., 1990). 

In female rats showing adrenal regeneration hypertension, a dose of 3 mg/kg of A -THC was capable of lowering blood pressure (this moderate dose for a rat does not produce somatic side effects). 

Absorption of Lipides.—In order to be absorbed, simple and complex lipides must first undergo hydrolysis to aliphatic acids. These acids then combine with the bile salts to form water-soluble, diffusible complexes, which pass into the intestinal mucosa, where they interact with glycerophosphoric acid to regenerate the neutral fat, and thus enter the lymphatics. Hence, three factors are concerned in fat absorption (i.) the enzyme lipase and its activators (ii.) the bile salts, which act as carriers (iii.) the phosphorylation mechanism in the mucosa, which in turn, requires vitamin Bj (p. 257) and the hormone of the adrenal cortex (p. 415), as demonstrated by Verzar. This elaborate mechanism endows the organism with considerable power of discrimination in the absorption of lipides and lipoids, as shown by the preferential absorption of carotene. 

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