Postnatal overexpression of insulin-like growth factor II in transgenic mice is associated with adrenocortical hyperplasia and enhanced steroidogenesis.

The influence of postnatal insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) overexpression on adrenal growth and function was investigated in 3-month-old male phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) promoter human IGF-II transgenic mice, which are characterized by 4-to 6-fold elevated postnatal IGF-II serum levels. Plasma corticosterone levels of PEPCK-IGF-II transgenic mice were 2-fold higher than in age- and sex-matched controls, both in the morning (7.4 +/- 1.5 vs. 17.8 +/- 3.9 ng/ml, P < 0.01) and in the evening (33.3 +/- 6.5 vs. 65.3 +/- 12 ng/ml, P < 0.01). When PEPCK-IGF-II transgenic mice were subjected to an ACTH challenge, corticosterone levels were stimulated 6-fold, to 396 +/- 17 ng/ml after 60 min, compared with 230 +/- 24 ng/ml in the control group. In contrast to corticosterone, plasma ACTH levels were similar in transgenic and control mice, excluding an indirect effect of IGF-II at the hypothalamic or pituitary level. In vitro, the basal and ACTH-induced corticosterone production of adrenal glands from transgenic mice was higher (2-fold and 1.8-fold, respectively) than that of control organs. However, when normalized for adrenal weight, the in vitro corticosterone secretion was similar in both groups. At autopsy, adrenal weights of transgenic mice were significantly greater than those of control adrenal glands (3.3 +/- 0.2 vs. 2.0 +/- 0.2 mg, P < 0.01, n = 10). Furthermore, a local expression of human IGF-II could be demonstrated in transgenic adrenal glands by RT-PCR, whereas in normal adult mice, no adrenal expression of IGF-II was detected. Stereological investigation of adrenal glands from another set of PEPCK-IGF-II transgenic mice and controls (6-month-old males) demonstrated that the increase in adrenal weight in transgenic mice is mainly caused by a 50% increase in the number of zona fasciculata cells, whereas cell volume and zonation of transgenic adrenal glands remained unchanged. In conclusion, our data indicate that postnatal overexpression of IGF-II induces an increased adrenal weight and elevated corticosterone serum levels, presumably by a direct mitogenic effect of IGF-II on adrenocortical fasciculata cells.