Vahouny G V, Hodges V A, Treadwell C R
J Lipid Res. 1979 Feb;20(2):154-61.
Adrenocortical cells were prepared from rats maintained on essential fatty acid-deficient diets and control litter mates. Cells from control rats had high concentrations of essential fatty acids in the cholesteryl ester fraction of which approximately 22% was arachidonate. In contrast, cells from EFA-deficient rats had only 2.5% arachidonate in the cholesteryl esters, even though the total esterified cholesterol level was comparable to that of controls. In place of the essential fatty acids, the cholesteryl esters of these cells were rich in 20:3(n--9) and 22:3(n--9). When cells from EFA-deficient rats were incubated with ACTH or dibutyryl cyclic AMP, the output of corticosterone was the same as in controls. Also sterol esters were hydrolyzed to the same extent as in controls despite the unusual composition of the fatty acid esters. The phospholipids in both control and EFA-deficient cells contained high levels of arachidonate but were not hydrolyzed in either type of cell during incubation with ACTH or dibutyryl cyclic AMP. The results indicate that high levels of the prostaglandin precursors, namely linoleate and arachidonate, are not a sine qua non for the steroidogenic action of ACTH or cyclic AMP.
肾上腺皮质细胞取自维持在必需脂肪酸缺乏饮食的大鼠及其对照同窝仔鼠。对照大鼠的细胞在胆固醇酯部分含有高浓度的必需脂肪酸，其中约22%是花生四烯酸。相比之下，尽管总酯化胆固醇水平与对照相当，但来自必需脂肪酸缺乏大鼠的细胞在胆固醇酯中仅含有2.5%的花生四烯酸。这些细胞的胆固醇酯富含20:3(n-9)和22:3(n-9)，而非必需脂肪酸。当将来自必需脂肪酸缺乏大鼠的细胞与促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）或二丁酰环磷酸腺苷一起孵育时，皮质酮的产量与对照相同。尽管脂肪酸酯的组成异常，但甾醇酯的水解程度也与对照相同。对照细胞和必需脂肪酸缺乏细胞中的磷脂都含有高水平的花生四烯酸，但在与促肾上腺皮质激素或二丁酰环磷酸腺苷孵育期间，两种类型的细胞中的磷脂均未水解。结果表明，高水平的前列腺素前体，即亚油酸和花生四烯酸，并非促肾上腺皮质激素或环磷酸腺苷的类固醇生成作用的必要条件。
