Abstract
The influence of single and repeated doses of chloroform on the adrenocortical function was studied in young male albino rats. One day after oral administration of a single dose of 1.5 g chloroform/kg body weight, adrenal hypertrophy developed and persisted for at least 12 days. The adrenal cholesterol content started to drop 3 h after the application, remained low for 1 day, then increased and remained elevated during the next 12 days. The plasma corticosterone content increased 15 min after the treatment and remained high during the next 4 h; 6 h after the treatment, when the anesthetic effects of CHCl3 had disappeared, it decreased somewhat; after 12 h it increased again, and the peak value was observed after 1 day. This was followed by a gradual drop, and after 8 days it reached the normal level. A second dose, administered 4 or 8 days after the first one, was still capable of stimulating the adrenocortical function. This was evidenced 24 and 48 h after the second dose. The response, however, was smaller than that observed after a single dose of the same Stressor. The influence of a single dose of chloroform on corticosterone decay in the circulation 1 and 9 days after treatment, was tested in adrenalectomized rats injected with non-radioactive corticosterone, and in intact rats injected with 1,2-3H-corticosterone. Results for the adrenalectomized animals were inconclusive, whereas those for the intact ones proved that the treated animals metabolized corticosterone as well as the controls did.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Balazs T, Kupfer D (1966) Adrenocortical function test: Estimation of cortisol production rate in the guinea pig. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 8:152–158
Ballard CL, Hyde PM (1967) Effect of insulin on blood glucose and corticosterone levels in sodium fluoroacetate induced diabetes. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 124:317–320
Boulouard R (1963) Effects of cold and starvation on adrenocortical activity of rats. Fed Proc 22:750–753
Dambrauskas T, Cornish HH (1970) Effect of pretreatment of rats with carbon tetrachloride on tolerance development. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 17:83–97
Ellis FW (1966) Effect of ethanol on plasma corticosterone levels. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 153:121–127
Entenman C (1957) General procedures for separating lipid components of tissues. In: Colowick SP, Kaplan NO (eds) Methods in enzymology. vol III, Section II, Article No. 55, Procedure 11 D. Academic Press, New York, p 313
Furukawa T (1966) The effect of carbon tetrachloride on plasma corticosterone level. Jpn J Pharmacol 16:131–137
Ganong WF (1963) The central nervous system and the synthesis and release of adrenocorticotrophic hormone. In: Nalbandov AV (ed) Advances in neuroendocrinology. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Ill, pp 92–113
Gaunt R (1965) Adrenal corticoid inhibitors. Experimental medicine and surgery. (Supplement issue, December). Brooklyn Medical Press, New York
Halberg F (1960) The 24-h scale: A time dimension of adaptive functional organization. Perspect Biol Med 3:491–527
Kuntzman R, Jacobson M, Schneidman K, Conney AH (1964) Similarities between oxidative drug-metabolizing enzymes and steroid hydroxylases in liver microsomes. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 146:280–285
Lissall K, Endroczi E (1965) The neuroendocrine control of adaptation. Pergamon Press, New York, p 6
Lissall K, Endroczi E (1965)
Long CNH (1947) Conditions associated with the secretion of the adrenal cortex. Fed Proc 6:461–471
Maickel RP, Bush MT, Jondorf WR, Miller FP, Gillette JR (1966) Factors influencing the metabolism and distribution of corticosterone-1,2-3H in the rat. Mol Pharmacol 2:491–498
Mangili G, Totta M, Martini L (1966) Control of adrenocorticotrophic hormone secretion. In: Martini L, Ganong WF (eds) Neuroendocrinology, vol 1, Chap 9. Academic Press, New York London
Murphy SD (1965) Mechanism of the effect of acrolein on rat liver enzymes. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 7:833–843
Nichol CA, Rosen F (1964) Adaptive changes in enzymatic activity induced by glucocorticoids. In: Litwack G, Kritchevsky D (eds) Actions of hormones on molecular processes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp 234–256
Olshan A, Fuller GC, Lal H (1970) Effect of methylchloroform inhalation on the hepatic microsomal electron transport system related to drug metabolism. Abstracts of Papers for the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology, 15–19 March, 1970, Atlanta, Georgia. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 17:289
Platt DS, Cockrill BL (1967) Liver enlargement and hepatotoxicity. An investigation into the effects of several agents on rat liver enzyme activities. Biochem Pharmacol 16:2257–2270
Sayers G, Sayers MA (1949) The pituitary-adrenal system. Ann NY Acad Sci 50:521–539
Selye H (1951) The general adaptation syndrome and the diseases of adaptation. Am J Med 10:549–555
Selye H (1970) Resistance to various pesticides induced by catatoxic steroids. Arch Environ Health 21:706–710
Snyder F (1964) Radioassay of thin-layer chromatograms: A high resolution zonal scraper for quantitative14C and3H scanning of thin-layer chromatograms. Anal Biochem 9:183–196
Solem JH, Brinck-Johnsen T (1965) An evaluation of a method for determination of free corticosteroids in minute quantities of mouse plasma. Scand J Clin Lab Invest (Suppl) 17:80
Spencer-Peet J, Daly JR, Smith V (1965) A simple method for improving the specificity of the fluorometric determination of adrenal corticosteroids in human plasma. J Endocrinol 31:235–244
Stadtman TC (1957) Preparation and assay of cholesterol and ergosterol. In: Colowick SP, Kaplan NO (eds) Methods in enzymology, vol III, Sect. II, Article No. 63. Academic Press, New York, pp 392–393
Szot RJ, Murphy SD (1970) Phenobarbital and dexamethazone inhibition of the adrenocortical response to toxic chemicals and other stresses. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 17:761–773
Uehleke H (1978) Zur Toxikologie von Chloroform. Bundesgesundheitsblatt 21:310–317
von Oettingen WF (1964) The halogenated hydrocarbons of industrial and toxicological importance. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 84–101
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yannai, S. Adrenocortical response to single and repeated doses of chloroform in rats. Arch Toxicol 54, 145–156 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01261383
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01261383