Studies of the Effects of Administration of ACTH and Adrenal Corticosteroids on Erythrophagocytosis*

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Abstract
Experiments were conducted to assess the effects of ACTH and certain adrenal corticosteroids on the in vitro phagocytic capability of human peripheral blood leukocytes for opsonized erythro-cytes. In vitro addition of glucocorticoids required grossly unphysib-logical amounts of these substances to effect inhibition. In contrast, intravenously administered cortisol and orally administered prednisone caused sequential decrease in the erythrophagocytic capacity of leukocytes from both normal subjects and patients with chronic adrenal cortical insufficiency. Intravenously administered ACTH showed a similar effect in normal patients but yielded no effect in patients with Addison''s disease. It is suggested that the techniques employed may lend themselves to clinically useful methods for assessing certain aspects of adrenal glucocorticoid metabolism.