Nucleolar organizer regions in human adrenocortical disorders.

A silver colloid technique to demonstrate nucleolar organizer region-associated proteins (AgNORs) was performed on sections of 39 human adrenal glands, including normal adrenal cortex, bilateral adrenocortical hyperplasia, adenoma, and carcinoma. In mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid-producing adrenocortical cells, the mean number of AgNORs per nucleus was lowest in the normal adrenal gland and highest in adenoma, with statistically significant differences. The mean number of AgNORs in bilateral adrenocortical hyperplasia was placed between that of normal adrenal and adenoma. AgNOR numbers in morphologically and clinically verified adrenocortical carcinoma (12 cases) were not different from those in adenoma (17 cases). In adrenal cortex, AgNOR numbers may be correlated with increased steroid hormone production but appear to be of little value in discerning malignancy in adrenocortical neoplasms.