ACTH CONTENT OF RAT PITUITARY GLANDS

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Abstract
IN STUDIES of changes in the ACTH content of rat pituitary glands, the resting value and its usual range must be firmly established. There are anly a few reports of such values. For example, Burns, Merkin, Sayers, ond Sayers (1) found about 100 mu. of ACTH per rat pituitary, and Sydnor and Sayers (2) reported a value of 70 mu. per gland. More recently, Saffran and Schally (3), using a different method of assay, found values ranging about 300–400 mu. per 5–6 mg. rat gland. The discrepancy could result from different methods of extraction and/or different bioassay procedures. In the course of experiments designed to detect the source of the disagreement, we found that the extraction procedure is probably the major variable and that it is possible to extract more than 1000 mu. from each rat pituitary gland—10 times as much as the values first reported by Burns et at.!