Pituitary-adrenal axis activity in rats after whole-body irradiation. Comparison with plasma cortisol evolution in four cases of human protracted whole-body irradiation.

Plasma ACTH and adrenal and plasma corticosterone levels were studied in rats during 30 days after LD50 irradiation. Plasma cortisol levels were studied in man after protracted whole-body irradiation. In both cases, a period of great instability of adrenal function was associated with bad clinical conditions. Then, a period of adrenal dysfunctioning, reversible with time, occurred in rats and in one patient.