1964 Volume 55 Issue 10 Pages 973-993
It is well known that the adrenal glands play an important role in the homeostatic mechanism of the whole body, and there can be found many reports on the humoral controling mechanism for the endocritic activity of the adrenal glands. Among them, two concepts, the “Interbrain-Pituitary-Adrenocortical System” offered by Selye and the “Sympathico-Adrenocortical System” offered by Cannon, are most dominant in present time. On the other hand, the reports on the nervous controling mechanism for the secretory activity of the adrenal glands are rather few except a theory of the “N. Splanchnicus-Adrenocortical System” offered by Okinaka. While, Sayers assumed that the basal secretion of the adrenal hormones would be controled by the humoral controling system as described above but the additional secretion of it might be influenced by some nervous controling system of that organ, however, the details of these mechanisms are not explained satisfactorily.
Therefore, I tried to clarify the functional mechanism and the characteristics of the nerves on the secretory activity of the adrenal glands. The adrenal vein blood was obtained by the modified technique of the Hume & Nelson's method from the adult dogs which received selective section of various nerves innervating the adrenal glands. The blood flow rate and the concentration of adrenalin, noradrenalin, and 17-OHCS were estimated by Yoshinaga's method and the modified procedure of the Porter-Silber's method one week or one month after the operation. The resection of the nerves was performed on the left splanchnic nerve, and each of left ventral, dorsal, ventral-and-dorsal roots, spinal ganglions, and ventral roots and spinal ganglions of VII-X or XI-XIII thoracic nerves, respectively.
The blood flow rate of the adrenal vein changed corresponding to the kind of nerves resected. It increased following the resection of left ventral roots or ventral-and-dorsal roots of the thoracic nerves, however, it decreased following the resction of left dorsal roots, spinal ganglions, ventral roots and spinal ganglions of that nerves, and the resection of left splanchnic nerve. These changes did not show any relationship to the concentration of adrenalin, noradrenalin, and 17-OHCS in that blood, and it was assumed that these changes were produced due to the resection of nerves described above.
The concentration of adrenalin and noradrenalin in the adrenal vein blood decreased generally after the various nerve section. It decreased significantly following the resection of ventral roots, and ventral-and-dorsal roots of the thoracic nerves, and the concentration of adrenalin decreased also significantly following the resection of ventral roots and spinal ganglions of that nerves, while that of noradrenalin showed marked decrease at the same time. And furthermore, the concentration of both hormones debreased markedly following the section of dorsal roots of the thoracic nerves and the section of the splanchnic nerve, while following the resection of spinal ganglions of the thoracic nerves these increased slightly.
Moreover, the total output of these adrenal hormones following the selective section of various nerves decreased generally. But the total output of 17-OHCS following the section of ventral roots of the thoracic nerves, that of adrenalin following the resection of ventral-and-dorsal roots, and ventral roots and spinal ganglions of that nerves, and that of each adrenalin, noradrenalin, and 17-OHCS following the resection of spinal ganglions of that nerves kept almost normal levels. These changes of the concentration and total output of the adrenal hormones corresponding to the kind of resected nerve, and the results obtained that there could not be found any relationship between the concentration of adrenalin or noradrenalin and 17-OHCS in the adrenal vein blood reveald the fact that these changes were produced due to the resection of nerves desc
