Influence of in vivo Administration of Adrenocorticoids on Metabolism of Thymus,Liver and Tumor Tissues. ∗

Summary

In cell suspensions of thymus or lymphatic tumor tissues from rats treated 4 to 24 hours previously with cortisone or hydrocortisone consistent decreases in C¹⁴O₂ production and in incorporation of C¹⁴ into tissue protein were demonstrated whether incubations were conducted in the presence of uniformly labeled glucose or fructose, acetate-1-C¹⁴ or glycine-2-C¹⁴. Liver tissue exhibited increased in vitro accumulation of C¹⁴ into glycogen after hormone treatment. A variety of other metabolic pools showed no difference in total C¹⁴ accumulation or distribution resulting from hormone administration. Methods of analysis for a wide spectrum of metabolites from tissue incubates are outlined. Dinitrophenol, methylene blue, and brilliant cresyl blue increased the level of hepatic glycogen in rats when administered at the beginning of a 28-hour fast period. These increments are in addition to the increase caused by the cortical hormones and may represent a failure to utilize the glycogen during the fast.