A comparison of the responses of dispersed steroidogenic cells derived from embryonic adrenal tissue from the domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus), the domestic Pekin duck and the wild mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), and the domestic muscovy duck (Cairina moschata).

The steroidogenic responsiveness of adrenal cell suspensions prepared from domestic chicken adrenal tissue at the end of embryogenesis was compared to the responses of similar preparations derived from the wild and domesticated mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), and the domesticated muscovy duck (Cairina moschata). In all cases, the masses of corticosterone (B), aldosterone (Aldo), and deoxycorticosterone (DOC) released from cells incubated in medium containing 1-24 ACTH exceeded the estimated hormone content of the freshly dispersed cells; the induced rates of corticosteroid release were, therefore, presumed to reflect de novo hormone synthesis. When chicken cells were incubated in medium containing 1-24 ACTH, there were progressive, dose-dependent increases in B and DOC synthesis over a range of concentrations spanning two orders of magnitude; only small, non-dose-related, albeit significant, increases in Aldo release were observed. The 1-24 ACTH-induced increases in B and Aldo synthesis by the mallard and Pekin duck cells exposed to the same range of concentrations were up to 40 and 60 times greater than the corresponding responses of the chicken cells. The rates of 1-24 ACTH-induced B and DOC release from muscovy duck cells were similar to those from the Pekin duck cells; compared with the mallard duck cells, however, the muscovy duck cells were less sensitive and the maximum inducible rate of B release was significantly lower. The pattern of 1-24 ACTH-induced Aldo release from the muscovy duck cells was indistinguishable from that of the mallard duck cells, although the maximum inducible increase occurred at a lower concentration. Angiotensin II (AII) induced very small, but significant increased in B, Aldo, and DOC release from the chicken cells but in a nondose-related fashion. In contrast, mallard, Pekin, and muscovy duck cells all responded in a dose-dependent manner when incubated in medium containing AII. In each instance the maximum rate of Aldo synthesis induced by AII was about one-tenth of the corresponding rate induced by 1-24 ACTH. The maximum rates of B synthesis induced by AII, however, were extremely low compared with the rates induced by 1-24 ACTH. Thus, when maximally stimulated with AII the B:Aldo output ratio ranged from 1.0 to 1.9, whereas the corresponding ratio was between 9.0 and 17.0 when the cells were maximally stimulated with 1-24 ACTH.