Metabolic clearance rate of cortisol in pigs: relationship to adrenal responsiveness

Experiments were conducted on 12 prepuberal (18- to 20-week-old) Landrace cross Large White gilts to establish if differences in adrenal responsiveness between individuals could be explained by differences in the metabolic clearance rate (MCR) of cortisol. Pigs with the highest (n = 6) and lowest (n = 6) cortisol concentration 60 minutes after challenge with ACTH were selected from a pool of 36 commercial pigs. Tritium-labelled cortisol was infused (17 to 27 ml h-1) continuously for 120 minutes to establish 'steady state' conditions. Blood samples (10 ml) were collected at 90, 100, 110 and 120 minutes. Replicate experiments were performed on some pigs. Classification of individual pigs as high or low adrenal responders to ACTH challenge was confirmed at the end of the clearance rate experiments. The MCR of cortisol in the group classed as low adrenal responders was 59.7 +/- 7.8 litres h-1 or 1.01 litres h-1 kg-1 (n = 7) which was not significantly different from the average MCR in the group classed as high adrenal responders 60.2 +/- 5.9 litres h-1 or 1.19 litres h-1 kg-1 (n = 10). These results suggest that the repeatable differences in adrenal responsiveness to ACTH that exist between individuals within a particular strain of pig depend on differences in the rate of synthesis of cortisol in response to ACTH stimulation, rather than on differences in its rate of metabolism.