Compensatory adrenal growth in dexamethasone treated male and female hamsters

The aim of the study was to investigate the unilateral adrenalectomy - induced compensatory adrenal growth in dexamethasone treated male and female hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus Waterhouse). Animals were treated for 5 days with 25 micrograms dexamethasone/animal/day or with 0.2 ml 0.9% NaCl. The first injection was made 0.5-1 h after monolateral adrenalectomy or sham operation. In three sets of experiments male and female hamsters received no injection. Only in one of three experiments was the relative adrenal weight of monoadrenalectomised male and female hamsters receiving no injections higher than in sham operated groups. In the case of NaCl treatment, only in one group of monoadrenalectomised males was the relative weight of the right adrenal higher than in the control group. On the contrary, in all three experiments with dexamethasone treatment the relative weight of the solitary adrenal was higher than in sham operated animals, while there was no difference among appropriate groups of females. In monoadrenalectomised dexamethasone-treated male hamsters, volume of the glomerulosa and reticularis zones was higher than in sham operated group. Neither the average cell volume in particular adrenocortical zones nor the number of parenchymal cells in the zones and in the entire cortex were changed due to adrenalectomy in dexamethasone treated males. There was no difference in all stereologic parameters studied when monoadrenalectomised and sham operated dexamethasone treated females were compared. Plasma cortisol level was lower in hemiadrenalectomised dexamethasone-administered males, while 3H-thymidine incorporation was higher in both male and female dexamethasone-treated hemiadrenalectomised hamsters. The obtained results demonstrate the evident sex-dependent response of the hamster adrenal gland to monoadrenalectomy and dexamethasone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)