MULTIPLE HORMONE RECEPTORS IN THE ADENYLATE-CYCLASE OF HUMAN ADRENOCORTICAL TUMORS

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 40  (10) , 3768-3771
Abstract
Adenylate cyclase responses to pituitary hormones including ACTH, biogenetic amines, prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), angiotensin II and glucagon, were evaluated in adrenocortical tumors and hyperplastic adrenal tissues obtained from patients with Cushing''s syndrome at surgery, and in normal adrenals. The adenylate cyclase of 2 normal adrenals was activated only by ACTH and PGE1 among the hormones tested, while that of 2 hyperplastic adrenal tissues due to excessive pituitary ACTH secretion was stimulated only by ACTH. Of 5 ACTH-responsive adrenocortical adenomas, in contrast, 3 were stimulated by norepinephrine, 2 by epinephrine, 1 by thyroid-stimulating hormone, and 1 by luteinizing hormone in addition to ACTH, indicating the presence of multiple receptors for hormones other than ACTH and PGE1 in these 4 tumors. The cyclase of an ACTH-unresponsive adrenocortical carcinoma was activated only by PGE1 and not by other hormones including ACTH, whereas that of an ACTH-responsive adrenocortical nodular hyperplasia was stimulated by ACTH and glucagon but not by other hormones including PGE1. Multiple receptors for hormones other than ACTH and PGE1, the normal adenocortical stimulants are present in human adrenocortical tumors, particularly in adrenal adenomas, but not in normal and hyperplastic adrenocortical tissues, suggesting a functional alteration of the cellular membrane receptors in human adrenocortical tumors.