Digitalis-like substance is produced in the hypothalamus but not in the adrenal gland in rats

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Abstract
We studied the role of the adrenals on the plasma levels and urinary output of the digoxin-like immunoreactivity in order to elucidate the interrelationship between the adrenals and hypothalamic digoxin-like immunoreactivity. Urine was collected for 24 h 6 days after the bilateral adrenalectomy and then rats were killed by decapilation. Urinary excretion of digoxin-like immunoreactivity did not differ significantly between the sham-operated and adrenalectomized groups, regardless of sodium intake. Plasma levels did not change significantly with sodium-loading, and adrenalectomy did not significantly affect the plasma concentrations of the immunoreactivity. However, bilateral adrenalectomy increased the content of digoxin-like immunoreactivity in the hypothalamus significantly in both rat groups fed with a regular (P < 0.05) and a high-salt (P < 0.02) diet. However, when the levels were measured only 16 h after bilateral adrenalectomy, both plasma and hypothalamic contents were significantly higher in the high-salt than the regular-salt group. The correlation between the plasma and hypothalamic content was significant (P < 0.01). These results strongly suggest that digoxin-like immunoreactivity is produced in the hypothalamus but not in the adrenals, and that the adrenal glands influence the turnover of the hypothalamic endogenous digitalis-like substance.

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