STUDY FOR THE POTENTIAL FUNCTION OF SO-CALLED NON-FUNCTIONAL ADRENAL CORTICAL ADENOMA.

• Project/Area Number: 02670713
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Urology
• Research Institution: SAGA MEDICAL SCHOOL
• Principal Investigator: MASAKI Zenjiro SAGA MEDICAL SCHOOL, MEDICINE, PROFESSOR, 医学部, 教授 (40038716)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ICHIGI Yasuhisa SAGA MEDICAL SCHOOL, MEDICINE, ASSISTANT, 医学部, 助手 (00193441)
• Project Period (FY): 1990 – 1991
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 1992)
• Budget Amount: ¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000); Fiscal Year 1991: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000); Fiscal Year 1990: ¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
• Keywords: Non-functional adrenal cortical adenoma / Cell culture / Pre-Cushing's syndrome / Collagen / Aldosteronoma / Pre・Cushing症候群 / Preーcushing症候群

Research Abstract

Our research was mainly focused on the establishment of the human adrenal cortex cell culture, and it is shown that gel matrix cell culture can be most useful for human adrenal cortex. The study for the potential function of so-called non functional adrenal cortical adenoma has not yet be done in this limited period of time.
At first, outer and inner layer cells of bovine adrenal cortex were cultured separately. Isolated cells were placed in each of a series of 35mm plastic tissue culture dishes in HamF12 with serum and antibiotics. The outer layer cells produced more aldosterone than the inner layer ones. There was no significant difference in cortisol production.
Next, primary monolayer culture of human adrenal cortex cells was performed in the same methods described above. Human normal adrenal glands were harvested from the patients with a renal cell carcinoma. But monolayer culture of human adrenal glands were difficult technically, because these adrenal cortex cells do not attach to the plastic surface of culture dishes.
In order to overcome the problems, we used a collagen gel culture for human adrenal cortex. Type I+IV collagen gel matrix was mixed with the isolated cells and these was laied in very thin layer in the almost same way as monolayer cell culture to facilitate observation and histochemical staining. The cells were spherially-shaped and had an ability of proliferation to a small extent.
Two aldosteronoma and 12 normal adrenal cortex were cultured by this method. Morphologically, there was no difference between the above two groups. There can be seen cortisol and aldosteron production in most cultured cells and the former was increased by stimulation of ACTH. Exceedingly high aldosterone production was observed in one of the aldosteronoma.