PITUITARY-ADRENAL RELATIONSHIP IN FULLTERM AND IN PREMATURE INFANTS, AS EVIDENCED BY EOSINOPHIL RESPONSE*

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Abstract
EXPOSURE of the organism to stress or the administration of a toxic substance results in the elaboration of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) by the pituitary, which in turn stimulates the adrenal cortex. This phenomenon was originally postulated by Selye (1) and demonstrated more clearly by Long (1947, (2)), Sayers and Sayers (1949, (3)) and others. One of the manifestations of increased adrenocortical secretion is a decline in circulating eosinophils (Dalton and Selye, 1937, (4); and Thorn et al., 1948, (5)). In a patient with intact adrenals, the administration of ACTH causes a pronounced decline in circulating eosinophils. In the primary hypoadrenal state, however, only the injection of one of the 11-oxygen corticosteroids (compounds E and F) will produce an identical response (Hills et al, 1949, (6)). The administration of epinephrine, acting as a nonspecific stress, results in a fall in circulating eosinophils in the presence of an intact pituitary-adrenal axis. If the integrity of this system is broken at any point, it is found that no response is obtained when epinephrine is given. ACTH will cause a decline in eosinophils only in the presence of responsive adrenal tissue (Recant, Hume, Forsham and Thorn, 1950, (7)).

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