THE ADRENOTROPIC ACTION OF HUMAN PREGNANCY PLASMA1

Abstract
Jailer and coworkers have reported that the plasma of pregnant women contained an adrenotropin which was distinct from ACTH; they showed that treatment of freshly hypophysectomized rats with pregnancy plasma partially prevented adrenal involution. We have found evidence suggesting that the adrenotropic action of pregnancy plasma is attributable to its content of chorionic gonadotropin. The gonadotropin appears not to act directly on the rat adrenal; instead it stimulates the interstitial cells of the testis, and their steroid secretory product in turn acts on the adrenal to produce a partial maintenance of adrenal weight.