UPTAKE AND LOSS OF TRITIATED OESTRADIOL BY THE ADRENAL GLAND AND BY OESTROGEN-INDUCED ADRENOCORTICAL CARCINOMA IN THE RAT

The loss of injected tritiated oestradiol from the adrenals of non-tumour-bearing rats of different endocrine status and from the adrenals and tumours of animals bearing two lines of transplantable oestrone-induced adrenocorti-cal carcinoma has been studied. There was no evidence that adrenals from non-tumour-bearing rats behaved as 'target organs ' for oestrogen as regards retention of the hormone. As compared with skeletal muscle of the same animals, one tumour line and the host adrenals behaved in a similar way to normal adrenals and did not retain oestradiol, whereas the other tumour line and host adrenals lost the hormone at a somewhat slower rate than muscle. It is suggested that the behaviour of the host adrenals and of the trans-planted tumours regarding the injected oestrogen was determined more by the hormonal environment of the tissues including the contribution made by the tumour itself, than by specific oestrogen receptors in adrenal tissue