An electron-microscopic stereological study of the compensatory hypertrophy of the rat adrenal zona fasciculata after unilateral adrenalectomy.

The ultrastructural changes associated with the compensatory hypertrophy of the zona fasciculata cells on monoadrenalectomized rats were investigated by stereological techniques. It was found that these subcellular changes display a different pattern from those underlying the ACTH-induced adrenocortical cell growth in the intact rats. This result supports the view that compensatory adrenal hypertrophy does not involve activation of the hypothalamo-hypophyseal-adrenal axis.