Abstract
Under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia adrenal venous blood was collected from intact, bilaterally splanchnicotomized and hypophysectomized dogs and was analyzed for 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17-OHCS). Adrenal 17-OHCS secre-tion in response to histamine in intact dogs anesthetized with pentobarbital was not different from that in conscious ones. Section of the splanchnic nerves did not alter the adrenocortical secretion response to histamine, whereas hypo-physectomy abolished or markedly depressed the 17-OHCS secretion response. These results suggest that the adrenal 17-OHCS secretion in response to histamine in the dog is mainly mediated through pituitary adrenocorticotrophin release and it is due neither to psychic excitement producible by histamine administration nor to adrenomedullary hormone release.
