Abstract
The mode of hormonal regulation of adrenal corticoids to sweat glands in plantar skin of rats were investigated on the cytological observations. With the materials of 35 rats of Wistar strain weighing 130-150 g as well as 5 rats weighing 280 g, following experiments were undertaken to determine this problem, as normal untreated control, bilateral adrenalectomy, prolonged subcutaneous administration of 2.5 mg of DCA per rat for 20 days after the removal, contineous subcutaneous administration of 2.5 mg of cortisone for 20 days after the deprivation, and subcutaneous injection of 0.4% formalin for 5 days to the normal untreated as the agencies of the chronic stressor. It is characteristic that this approach was carried with the same animals from whom the various samples of plantar skin were successively withdrawn during the stages of the experiment.
The terminal portion of the sweat glands of the normal male rats consists of two types of the glandular cells, a pale and dark cell, which manifest the irregular and complicated contours, and sometimes provide the obsecure outline especially in a pale cell, therefore it was not always afforded that they are distinguished from one another in their distribution in the epithelium. The intermediate type between both cells were occasionally recognized, showing their mutual transformation. At the basal part of the cell-body of the dark cell filamentous fibrous structure, larger and longer than the mitochondria, were situated perpendicularly, and in particular accumulated pronouncedly in the bifuricated foot-like basal cytoplasmic protrusions strongly stained. Several number of mitochondria, however, appeared in various parts of cytoplasm of most of cells, whereas the large secretory granules were almost negligible in them. A small amount of glycogen appeared around the nucleus as a dot in many of the cells.
Five days after the adrenalectomy, the pale cells increased in number and the fibrous structure in them became vague. They resembled so-called basal cell in their distribution and shape. It was noted that the dark cells are apt to take a position of the surfacing cells within the epithelium. These change became gradually prominent in the advancing days after the adrenalectomy. Within 20 days the latter cells were multiplied and provided with the obvious bifurication of the foot-like protrusions connected to the basement membrane, whereas the pale cells included the numerous vacuoles which may be a sign of the degeneration. The glycogen content increased in both cells.
In the prolonged administration of DCA, the aforementioned alterations were considerably recovered, nevertheless the restoration is not thorough so much as the normal level. From the appearance of glycogen content, it was established that DCA may be a powerful stimulator to permit them to recover from the probable hypoactivity induced by the ablation of adrenal gland.
A single administration of cortisone to the adrenalectomized rats did not make the pattern of restitution from the adrenalectomy, while the prolonged injection for 5 days and over enabled them to recover sufficiently. Notwithstanding this phenomenon, cortisone is inferior in the ability of promoting the cell function to DCA. The persistent injection of cortisone for 15-20 days made some degenerations in most of the cells, when the glycogen concentration did not go in parallel with the degree of the degeneration, because the amount of glycogen was less than that by the adrenalectomy.
The administration of cortisone to the normal, rats did not induce a sign of the degeneration in the sweat gland cells. However, this may not mean that the hormone is not effective to the normal gland cells, since there is enough reasons that the cells become transparent in general, and simltaneously the fibrous structure is obsecure at the cell basement. The glycogen content increased, in spite of the insufficient recovery up to the adrenalectomy level.
