Strain-dependent gonadal effects upon the response of adrenal cholesterol esters to ACTH in C57BL/10J and DBA/2J mice.

The response of adrenal cholesterol esters to ACTH administered in vivo was studied in males, females and male castrates of the C57BL)10J and DBA/21 strains of mice. The cholesterol ester fatty acids were transmethylated and analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography. There are sex and strain differences in the response of the adrenal cholesterol esters to ACTH. Neither the male nor the female C57 mouse shows a significant depletion of total cholesterol esters upon ACTH treatment. This result argues against the utilization of adrenal cholesterol esters for corticosteroid synthesis in this strain. In the female DBA mouse cholesterol ester depletion in response to ACTH is maximal. Neither the total cholesterol ester concentration nor the concentration of any individual ester is correlated with the pattern of response of the cholesterol esters to ACTH. Among the individual cholesterol esters, cholesteryl arachidonate (C20:4) is preferentially utilized after ACTH treatment in all groups except the C57 males. In contrast, cholesteryl adrenate (C22:4), which is generally the most abundant cholesterol ester, is conserved during ACTH stimulation in all groups except the DBA females. A cyclic interconversion between adrenate and arachidonate may be physiologically important in the control of adrenal function.