HISTOCHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE SECONDARY ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE IN THE RAT, ESPECIALLY IN THE ADRENAL CORTEX

In the site of steroid production, the histochemical activity of secondary alcohol dehydrogenase on isopropanol as its substrate with NAD as its coenzyme will reflect the inversion of 20α-22R-dihydroxycholesterol in the biosynthesis of steroid hormone, We applied this method on organs from all parts of the body of Wistar strain rats and observed positive reaction in the adrenal cortex, ovary and testis. In the adrenal cortex of mature rats, the zona glomerulosa exhibited a weakly positive activity, the outer to middle portions of the zona fasciculata an intensely positive activity, the inner portion of the zona fasciculata a weakly positive or negative activity, and the zona reticularis a positive activity. A proportional relationship between secondary alcohol dehydrogenase activity and the amount of lipid was present in the adrenal cortex of mature rats. In addition, the specific distribution of young and old rats was described