Synthetic 1-24 ACTH-stimulated insulin release in bilaterally adrenalectomized patients

The plasma insulin and blood glucose responses to synthetic 1-24 ACTH were studied in 21 patients bilaterally adrenalectomized for pituitary-dependent Cushing's syndrome and in 8 healthy adults. In the adrenalectomized patients, intravenous 1-24 ACTH administration was followed by an increase in plasma insulin concentrations after 15 and 30 min and a fall in blood glucose after 30 min. In healthy subjects no significant changes in plasma insulin and blood glucose levels were found. The presence of intact adrenals seems to be the cause of the different responses of insulin to 1-24 ACTH injection in these two groups.