Morphological and histochemical study on the adrenal cortex of the dexamethasone-treated albino rat

Morphological and histochemical examinations of the changes induced in the adrenal cortex by the administration of Dexamethasone (Decadron phosphate) to rats for 14 consecutive days were made at intervals during a 28-day post-treatment period, in order to follow the histo-functional recovery of this gland from the changes induced. The modifications that had occurred by the end of the treatment consisted of a decrease in the width of the zona fasciculata and the zona reticularis, an increase in the lipidic content, and degenerative mitochondrial signs in the zona glomerularis. Seven days after discontinuing treatment, we observed the disappearance of the zona intermedia, which reappeared on the 14th day after treatment. From this day on, the adrenal gland tended progressively to complete recovery. Dexamethasone therefore produces both short-term and long-term morphological and histochemical changes in all the adrenocortical zonae.