HYPERSECRETION OF ACTH CHROMATOPHOROTROPIC FACTOR IN ADDISON'S DISEASE AND ITS BEARING ON SKIN MELANOSIS

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Abstract
In human subjects with adrenal cortical insufficiency, the level of chromatophorotropic hormone (intermedin) is elevated in the blood. This hormone has been considered to be part of the ACTH complex and has been called ACTH factor C. Most animals produce the ACTH factor C separately from the other ACTH factors in the intermediate lobe of the pituitary. Man, however, has a poorly developed intermediate lobe, and thus all ACTH factors are formed together in the basophile cells of the anterior lobe. Hence increased ACTH production in man will always be connected with increased formation of the chromatophore hormone and skin melanosis. This cannot be the case, however, in animals with a well developed intermediate lobe.