Abstract: | A study was made of the effect of adrenalectomy and substitution therapy in the absence of adrenals on the cAMP content in the hypothalamus, hippocamp and striate body of the rat brain. It was shown that in sham adrenalectomized animals, the concentration of cAMP in the brain structures under study did not differ from the characteristics recorded in the control group. Adrenalectomy in rats was followed by a significant reduction of the nucleotide in all the structures, namely in the hypothalamus by 89.5%, and in the hippocamp and striate body by 30.3 and 30.5%, respectively. Application of substitution therapy (5 mg hydrocortisone per 100 mg body mass) prevented the decreased content of cAMP seen in the adrenalectomized rats, with its magnitude being within the limits recorded in the intact animals. Doca was little effective in this aspect. |