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[35S]Methimazole and [35S]propylthiouracil were shown to accumulate in mouse sub-mandibular gland in vivo, with maximal tissue: plasma ratios being achieved at the lowest dose of drug studied (0·1 μg/animal). Autoradiography of submandibular glands showed that the drugs were localized to the intralobular ductal epithelium and within the lumen of the convoluted granular tubule, which was identical to the localization of radiolabelled iodide. Histochemical studies indicated that this was the site of peroxidase activity within the gland. Drug accumulation persisted when iodide trapping was competitively inhibited using perchlorate. These data suggest that antithyroid drug accumulation by this tissue is not dependent on the anion trap; the localization of drug and iodide at the site of peroxidase activity suggest that this may be an important factor in the mechanism of drug accumulation, possibly related to subsequent drug metabolism.
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Radiolabelled [35S]propylthiouracil and [35S]methimazole were shown to accumulate in mouse thyroid gland in vivo, with maximal tissue/plasma ratios and maximal intrathyroidal levels of 35S-labelled drug being seen at the lowest dose of drug studied (0·1 μg/animal). Pretreatment with sodium perchlorate (10 mg) abolished iodide trapping by the thyroid and caused a fall in accumulation of both [35S]methimazole and [35S]propylthiouracil, although this effect was not seen at higher doses of drug, when tissue/plasma ratios approached unity. These data suggest that thiourylene antithyroid drug accumulation by the thyroid gland does not depend directly on the anion trap, and it is suggested that this accumulation might depend on subsequent intrathyroidal drug metabolism.
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ABSTRACT
The role of protein kinase C activation in the control of cortisol synthesis was studied using the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Bovine zona fasciculata cells were incubated with various concentrations of TPA in the presence and absence of EGTA, verapamil or nitrendipine to see whether cortisol stimulation was dependent on extracellular calcium ions. When free extracellular concentration of Ca2+ was reduced to approximately 10 μmol/l the cortisol response at all concentrations of TPA was reduced by approximately 25% indicating that protein kinase C activation is only partially dependent on extracellular calcium ions. This is confirmed by the effects of the voltage-dependant calcium channel blocker verapamil, which partially inhibited the cortisol response to a maximally effective concentration of TPA (1 μmol/l). However, a second channel blocker, nitrendipine, proved to be ten times more potent than verapamil and totally inhibited the TPA response. The partial effects of EGTA and verapamil and the contrast between verapamil and nitrendipine do not exclude the possibility that intracellular calcium ions are important in protein kinase C activation and may indicate that nitrendipine has better access to an additional site of inhibitory action than verapamil. It is significant that the ionophore A23187, which facilitates Ca2+ entry independently of voltage-sensitive channels, failed to overcome the inhibitory effects of nitrendipine in TPA-stimulated cells.
In some other tissues, the effects of protein kinase C activation are mediated by the opening of Na+/H+ exchange ports. The involvement of this port in the cortisol response has been tested by incubating TAP-and ACTH-treated cells with amiloride, an inhibitor of Na+/H+ exchange. It would seem unlikely that the steroidogenic effects of TPA are mediated by altered Na+/H+ exchange because, at the high concentration of amiloride used to block cortisol synthesis (1 mmol/l), non-specific side effects may occur and also because amiloride at this concentration inhibited the cortisol response to ACTH whose mechanism of action is not solely dependent on protein kinase C activation.
Cells were also incubated with increasing concentration of TPA in the presence and absence of ACTH and angiotensin. TPA did not further stimulate ACTH-treated cells and at 0·32 μmol/l inhibited cortisol synthesis. The effects of angiotensin and TPA were additive which suggests that the steroidogenic effects of angiotensin II are largely independent of protein kinase C activation.
J. Endocr. (1988) 117, 423–429
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ABSTRACT
The effect of dopamine (1 μg/kg per min) on corticosteroid response to ACTH (0·1, 1 and 10 ng/kg per min) was compared with that of a placebo in sodium-replete (150 mmol/day) and -deplete (10 mmol/day) normal man. Dopamine had no effect on aldosterone, cortisol or corticosterone responses in either dietary phase, but increased deoxycorticosterone (897·0 ± 126·4 (s.e.m.) vs 590·0 ±84·3 pmol/l, normal Na+; 1264·2 ±84·3 vs 764·5 ±84·3 pmol/l, low Na+) and deoxycortisol (6·033 ± 0·583 vs 5·048±0·680 nmol/l, normal Na+; 5·112 ± 0·600 vs 4·130± 0·367 nmol/l, low Na+) levels during ACTH administration (all P <0·01). Deoxycorticosterone and corticosterone responses to ACTH were greater during sodium depletion than repletion (both P <0·01).
Dopamine therefore increased 11-deoxycorticosteroid concentrations during ACTH-stimulated steroidogenesis. This may reflect action of dopamine to increase extra-adrenal formation of 11-deoxycorticosteroids.
J. Endocr. (1986) 109, 339–344
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The importance of corticosteroids in cardiovascular and other chronic disease is recognised. In addition, plasma steroid precursor-to-product ratios are useful and convenient indirect indicators of efficiency of key steroidogenic enzymes (aldosterone synthase, 11β-hydroxylase and 17α-hydroxylase). The use of liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) has enabled measurement of numerous corticosteroid compounds simultaneously. However, normal responses to trophins and variation in salt intake are not well described. This study examined these parameters in a large group of healthy volunteers. Sixty normotensive volunteers were recruited and underwent infusion of angiotensin II (AngII) and ACTH, following low- and high-salt diet. Measurement of plasma steroids at baseline and 30 min after infusion of trophin was carried out by LC–MS. As expected, plasma mineralocorticoid levels increased in response to salt restriction and were suppressed with salt loading; ACTH infusion increased all corticosteroids, while AngII increased mineralocorticoids and suppressed glucocorticoid production. ACTH increased S:F but decreased DOC:B, thus the S:F ratio is a more appropriate index of 11β-hydroxylase efficiency. The B:F ratio increased following ACTH treatment and salt restriction. A larger proportion of plasma B than generally accepted may be derived from the zona glomerulosa and this ratio may be most informative of 17α-hydroxylase activity in salt-replete subjects. Although DOC:aldosterone, B:aldosterone and 18-hydroxyB:aldosterone should provide indices of aldosterone synthase efficiency, responses of individual compounds to trophins suggest that none of them accurately reflect this. Based on these data, aldosterone synthase activity is most accurately reflected by aldosterone concentration alone.
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ABSTRACT
Receptors for angiotensin II (AII) and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) were characterized in a membrane fraction from resistance-type artery from human placentae. Placentae from normal pregnancies and pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) were studied. High- and low-affinity receptors for AII (dissociation equilibrium constant (K d) 1 ·7 and 15·7 nmol/l respectively) and ANP (K d 0·2 and 55·5 nmol/l respectively) were identified; these parameters were unchanged in IUGR, but there was a reduction in high-affinity receptor number by approximately 50% for AII and 80% for ANP in this condition. Both peptides may have a role in the regulation of fetoplacental blood flow. The alterations in IUGR are consistent with sustained activation of the fetal reninangiotensin system and suggest altered vascular responsiveness to ANP.
Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 126, 341–347
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Using a highly sensitive quantitative RT-PCR method for the measurement of CYP11B1 (11β-hydroxylase) and CYP11B2 (aldosterone synthase) mRNAs, we previously demonstrated that CYP11B2 expression in the central nervous system (CNS) is subject to regulation by dietary sodium. We have now quantified the expression of these genes in the CNS of male Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats in response to systemic ACTH infusion, dexamethasone infusion, and to adrenalectomy. CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 mRNA levels were measured in total RNA isolated from the adrenal gland and discrete brain regions using real-time quantitative RT-PCR. ACTH infusion (40 ng/day for 7 days, N=8) significantly increased CYP11B1 mRNA in the adrenal gland, hypothalamus, and cerebral cortex compared with animals infused with vehicle only. ACTH infusion decreased adrenal CYP11B2 expression but increased expression in all of the CNS regions except the cortex. Dexamethasone (10 μg/day for 7 days, N=8) reduced adrenal CYP11B1 mRNA compared with control animals but had no significant effect on either gene's expression in the CNS. Adrenalectomy (N=6 per group) significantly increased CYP11B1 expression in the hippocampus and hypothalamus and raised CYP11B2 expression in the cerebellum relative to sham-operated animals. This study confirms the transcription of CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 throughout the CNS and demonstrates that gene transcription is subject to differential regulation by ACTH and circulating corticosteroid levels.
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ABSTRACT
Infusion of dopamine is reported to reduce the response of aldosterone to infused angiotensin II in sodium-deplete but not sodium-replete man. Six normal male subjects were infused with angiotensin II in graded doses (2, 4 and 8 ng/kg per min) with or without dopamine (1·0 μg/kg per min) during both dietary sodium repletion and depletion. The responses of both aldosterone and 18-hydroxycorticosterone to infusion of angiotensin II appeared to be reduced by dopamine in sodium-deplete, but not sodium-replete, subjects. However, when the relationships between plasma concentrations of angiotensin II and corticosteroid were examined it was evident that plasma concentrations of angiotensin II were lower when dopamine was infused concurrently with the peptide (P<0·05).
In a second study, six sodium-deplete males were infused with angiotensin II at a constant rate (6 ng/kg per min) while dopamine (or placebo) was given in graded doses (0·5,1 and 5 μg/kg per min). Renal plasma flow was estimated from total body clearance of para-aminohippuric acid. Overall, angiotensin II concentrations were lower during dopamine infusion compared with those during infusion of placebo (63·2 ± 9·7 (s.e.m.) vs 92·3±6·4 pmol/l; P<0·01) and this was associated with a 40% increase in effective renal plasma flow (627 ± 68 vs 451 ± 15 ml/min; P < 0·05); there again appeared to be a reduced aldosterone response during combined angiotensin II/dopamine infusion compared with that during infusion of angiotensin II alone (1003 ± 404 vs 1225± 146 pmol/l; 0·05<P<0·1).
Dopamine appeared to increase the metabolic clearance of infused angiotensin II, possibly by altering blood flow through vascular beds, such as renal, which degrade the peptide. This may partly explain the effects of dopamine on the response of the adrenal to infusion of angiotensin II in sodium-deplete man; the physiological role of dopamine in the regulation of corticosteroidogenesis remains speculative.
J. Endocr. (1987) 113, 139–146
