-
BMJ Case Reports Sep 2020A 59-year-old woman, a known case of hypertension, was incidentally diagnosed with a large right-sided adrenal mass. Investigations for a functional adrenal lesion...
A 59-year-old woman, a known case of hypertension, was incidentally diagnosed with a large right-sided adrenal mass. Investigations for a functional adrenal lesion resulted in very high preoperative norepinephrine levels. A right adrenalectomy was performed. Histology showed adrenal medullary hyperplasia (AMH). AMH is a rare diagnosis and its incidence is poorly documented in the literature. This is a benign entity which resembles pheochromocytoma (PCC) in both clinical and biochemical manner. AMH is usually bilateral and may occur in isolation or in association with PCC. In fact, some authors consider it to be a precursor to PCC. Thus, these patients need long-term follow-up in view of the risk of development of PCC later.
Topics: Adrenal Gland Neoplasms; Adrenal Medulla; Adrenalectomy; Catecholamines; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Humans; Hyperplasia; Hypertension; Incidental Findings; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Metanephrine; Middle Aged; Norepinephrine; Pheochromocytoma; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography; Radiopharmaceuticals
PubMed: 32963042
DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2020-236209 -
International Journal of Molecular... May 2023The homeostasis of the adrenal gland plays a decisive role in its proper functioning, both in non-stressful conditions and under the influence of various types of...
The homeostasis of the adrenal gland plays a decisive role in its proper functioning, both in non-stressful conditions and under the influence of various types of stress. This consists of interactions between all types of cells that make up the organ, including parenchymal and interstitial cells. The amount of available information on this subject in the rat adrenal glands under non-stressful conditions is insufficient; the aim of the research was to determine the expression of marker genes for rat adrenal cells depending on their location. The material for the study consisted of adrenal glands taken from intact adult male rats that were separated into appropriate zones. Transcriptome analysis by means of Affymetrix Rat Gene 2.1 ST Array was used in the study, followed by real-time PCR validation. Expression analysis of interstitial cell marker genes revealed both the amount of expression of these genes and the zone in which they were expressed. The expression of marker genes for fibroblasts was particularly high in the cells of the ZG zone, while the highest expression of specific macrophage genes was observed in the adrenal medulla. The results of this study, especially with regard to interstitial cells, provide a so far undescribed model of marker gene expression of various cells, both in the cortex and medulla of the sexually mature rat adrenal gland. The interdependence between parenchymal and interstitial cells creates a specific microenvironment that is highly heterogeneous within the gland with respect to some of the interstitial cells. This phenomenon most likely depends on the interaction with the differentiated parenchymal cells of the cortex, as well as the medulla of the gland.
Topics: Rats; Male; Animals; Transcriptome; Adrenal Glands; Adrenal Medulla; Gene Expression Profiling
PubMed: 37298112
DOI: 10.3390/ijms24119159 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Feb 1997TrkA high-affinity receptors are essential for the normal development of sympathetic paravertebral neurons and subpopulations of sensory neurons. Paravertebral...
TrkA high-affinity receptors are essential for the normal development of sympathetic paravertebral neurons and subpopulations of sensory neurons. Paravertebral sympathetic neurons and chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla share an ontogenetic origin, responsiveness to NGF, and expression of TrkA. Which aspects of development of the adrenal medulla might be regulated via TrkA are unknown. In the present study we demonstrate that mice deficient for TrkA, but not the neurotrophin receptor TrkB, show an early postnatal progressive reduction of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzymatic activity in the adrenal medulla and in preganglionic sympathetic neurons within the thoracic spinal cord, which are also significantly reduced in number. Quantitative determinations of specific AChE activity revealed a massive decrease (-62%) in the adrenal gland and a lesser, but still pronounced, reduction in the thoracic spinal cord (-40%). Other markers of the adrenal medulla and its innervation, including various neuropeptides, chromogranin B, secretogranin II, amine transporters, the catecholamine-synthesizing enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase and PNMT, synaptophysin, and L1, essentially were unchanged. Interestingly, AChE immunoreactivity appeared unaltered, too. Preganglionic sympathetic neurons, in contrast to adrenal medullary cells, do not express TrkA. They must, therefore, be affected indirectly by the TrkA knock-out, possibly via a retrograde signal from chromaffin cells. Our results suggest that signaling via TrkA, but not TrkB, may be involved in the postnatal regulation of AChE activity in the adrenal medulla and its preganglionic nerves.
Topics: Acetylcholinesterase; Adrenal Medulla; Animals; Autonomic Fibers, Preganglionic; Catecholamines; Chromaffin Cells; Immunohistochemistry; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
PubMed: 8994044
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-03-00891.1997 -
Journal of Anatomy Apr 2015Little attention has been paid to adrenal sustentacular cells, and several major histology textbooks do not even describe them. This study presents a detailed...
Immunohistochemical analysis of sustentacular cells in the adrenal medulla, carotid body and sympathetic ganglion of mice using an antibody against brain-type fatty acid binding protein (B-FABP).
Little attention has been paid to adrenal sustentacular cells, and several major histology textbooks do not even describe them. This study presents a detailed morphological description of sustentacular cells using immuno-light microscopy and an antibody against brain-type fatty acid-binding protein. The immunopositive sustentacular cells and processes formed lattices with holes of various sizes and compactnesses or openness. In addition, weakly immunostained sheet-like structures with ill-defined contours were often associated with the processes and lattices. In the carotid body, which has traditionally been classified under the name of paraganglia in common with the adrenal medulla, immunostained sustentacular cell processes formed lattices in association with the weakly immunostained sheet-like structures, but the lattices with sheets were more compact and rigid than the adrenal medulla, and appeared like individually distinct compartments. In the ganglion, the immunostained satellite cell processes with the sheets tightly enclosed individual neurons. As a result, the immunostained sheet-like structures were regarded as en-face views of thinly flattened sustentacular cytoplasmic envelopes partially covering the chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla, and widely in the carotid body in a way rather similar to the satellite cells in the ganglion. In brief, the terminal enclosing portions of adrenal sustentacular cell processes, in cut-views, were too thin/flat to be recognized as distinct lines in immuno-light microscopy because of its resolution limit. They are recognized in en-face views as entities of a substantially spacious extension in immuno-light microscopy.
Topics: Adrenal Medulla; Animals; Carotid Body; Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; Ganglia, Sympathetic; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Microscopy; Microscopy, Electron
PubMed: 25753214
DOI: 10.1111/joa.12285 -
Endocrinology Jul 2022During fasting, increased sympathoadrenal activity leads to epinephrine release and multiple forms of plasticity within the adrenal medulla including an increase in the...
During fasting, increased sympathoadrenal activity leads to epinephrine release and multiple forms of plasticity within the adrenal medulla including an increase in the strength of the preganglionic → chromaffin cell synapse and elevated levels of agouti-related peptide (AgRP), a peptidergic cotransmitter in chromaffin cells. Although these changes contribute to the sympathetic response, how fasting evokes this plasticity is not known. Here we report these effects involve activation of GPR109A (HCAR2). The endogenous agonist of this G protein-coupled receptor is β-hydroxybutyrate, a ketone body whose levels rise during fasting. In wild-type animals, 24-hour fasting increased AgRP-ir in adrenal chromaffin cells but this effect was absent in GPR109A knockout mice. GPR109A agonists increased AgRP-ir in isolated chromaffin cells through a GPR109A- and pertussis toxin-sensitive pathway. Incubation of adrenal slices in nicotinic acid, a GPR109A agonist, mimicked the fasting-induced increase in the strength of the preganglionic → chromaffin cell synapse. Finally, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction experiments confirmed the mouse adrenal medulla contains GPR109A messenger RNA. These results are consistent with the activation of a GPR109A signaling pathway located within the adrenal gland. Because fasting evokes epinephrine release, which stimulates lipolysis and the production of β-hydroxybutyrate, our results indicate that chromaffin cells are components of an autonomic-adipose-hepatic feedback circuit. Coupling a change in adrenal physiology to a metabolite whose levels rise during fasting is presumably an efficient way to coordinate the homeostatic response to food deprivation.
Topics: 3-Hydroxybutyric Acid; Adrenal Medulla; Agouti-Related Protein; Animals; Cell Plasticity; Chromaffin Cells; Epinephrine; Fasting; Mice; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
PubMed: 35595517
DOI: 10.1210/endocr/bqac077 -
Scientific Reports Mar 2019Adrenal chromaffin cells and sympathetic neurons synthesize and release catecholamines, and both cell types are derived from neural crest precursors. However, they have...
Adrenal chromaffin cells and sympathetic neurons synthesize and release catecholamines, and both cell types are derived from neural crest precursors. However, they have different developmental histories, with sympathetic neurons derived directly from neural crest precursors while adrenal chromaffin cells arise from neural crest-derived cells that express Schwann cell markers. We have sought to identify the genes, including imprinted genes, which regulate the development of the two cell types in mice. We developed a method of separating the two cell types as early as E12.5, using differences in expression of enhanced yellow fluorescent protein driven from the tyrosine hydroxylase gene, and then used RNA sequencing to confirm the characteristic molecular signatures of the two cell types. We identified genes differentially expressed by adrenal chromaffin cells and sympathetic neurons. Deletion of a gene highly expressed by adrenal chromaffin cells, NIK-related kinase, a gene on the X-chromosome, results in reduced expression of adrenaline-synthesizing enzyme, phenyl-N-methyl transferase, by adrenal chromaffin cells and changes in cell cycle dynamics. Finally, many imprinted genes are up-regulated in chromaffin cells and may play key roles in their development.
Topics: Adrenal Medulla; Animals; Bacterial Proteins; Cell Separation; Chromaffin Cells; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gene Ontology; Genes, X-Linked; Genomic Imprinting; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Luminescent Proteins; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Mice, Transgenic; Neural Stem Cells; Pregnancy; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; RNA-Seq
PubMed: 30850723
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-40501-0 -
Journal of Nuclear Medicine : Official... Apr 1981An evaluation of radioiodinated meta-iodobenzylguanidine (m-IBG) as an adrenomedullary imaging agent is reported in 15 rhesus monkeys. Scintiscans of the monkey adrenal... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
An evaluation of radioiodinated meta-iodobenzylguanidine (m-IBG) as an adrenomedullary imaging agent is reported in 15 rhesus monkeys. Scintiscans of the monkey adrenal medulla have been obtained with [123I]- and [m-131I]IBG at 2-6 days after injection. The imaging superiority of m-IBG over its positional isomer, para-iodobenzylguanidine (p-IBG), is documented in both dogs and monkeys. Administration of reserpine, a depletor of catecholamine stores, markedly lowers the [m-131I]-IBG content of the dog adrenal medulla, but the adrenergic blocking agents phenoxybenzamine and propranolol have no effect. Subcellular fractionation of the dog's adrenal medullae reveals that m-IBG is sequestered mainly in the chromaffin storage granules. The results of this study suggest that radioiodinated m-IBG, previously reported to image the primate myocardium, also merits evaluation as a clinical radiopharmaceutical for the adrenal medulla.
Topics: 3-Iodobenzylguanidine; Adrenal Medulla; Animals; Chromaffin Granules; Dogs; Female; Guanidines; Iodine Radioisotopes; Iodobenzenes; Macaca mulatta; Male; Radionuclide Imaging; Reserpine; Tissue Distribution
PubMed: 7205383
DOI: No ID Found -
Physiological Research Jul 2021It is widely accepted that sympathetic nervous system plays a crucial role in the development of hypertension. On the other hand, the role of adrenal medulla (the... (Review)
Review
It is widely accepted that sympathetic nervous system plays a crucial role in the development of hypertension. On the other hand, the role of adrenal medulla (the adrenomedullary component of the sympathoadrenal system) in the development and maintenance of high blood pressure in man as well as in experimental models of hypertension is still controversial. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) are the most widely used animal model of human essential hypertension characterized by sympathetic hyperactivity. However, the persistence of moderately elevated blood pressure in SHR subjected to sympathectomy neonatally as well as the resistance of adult SHR to the treatment by sympatholytic drugs suggests that other factors (including enhanced activity of the adrenomedullary hormonal system) are involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension of SHR. This review describes abnormalities in adrenomedullary hormonal system of SHR rats starting with the hyperactivity of brain centers regulating sympathetic outflow, through the exaggerated activation of sympathoadrenal preganglionic neurons, to the local changes in chromaffin cells of adrenal medulla. All the above alterations might contribute to the enhanced release of epinephrine and/or norepinephrine from adrenal medulla. Special attention is paid to the alterations in the expression of genes involved in catecholamine biosynthesis, storage, release, reuptake, degradation and adrenergic receptors in chromaffin cells of SHR. The contribution of the adrenomedullary hormonal system to the development and maintenance of hypertension as well as its importance during stressful conditions is also discussed.
Topics: Adrenal Medulla; Animals; Blood Pressure; Hormones; Humans; Hypertension; Rats, Inbred SHR; Sympathetic Nervous System; Rats
PubMed: 33982588
DOI: 10.33549/physiolres.934687 -
Experimental Neurology Nov 1990This review summarizes basic and clinical research on intracerebral adrenal medulla grafts, emphasizing potential applications to Parkinson's disease. Properties of... (Review)
Review
This review summarizes basic and clinical research on intracerebral adrenal medulla grafts, emphasizing potential applications to Parkinson's disease. Properties of intraventricular and intraparenchymal grafts are described, and cell survival and functional effects are compared. It is clear that adrenal medulla allografts survive poorly in the parenchyma of the corpus striatum and better in the lateral ventricle. Nerve growth factor (NGF) may improve the survival of adrenal medulla grafts. In the absence of added NGF even adrenal medulla grafts in the ventricle survive irregularly, and the factors required for graft survival in the ventricle are not well understood. In the 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rat model most evidence suggests, not surprisingly, that adrenal medulla grafts produce functional effects only when they survive. These effects may be related to production of catecholamines by the transplanted cells. In addition, adrenal medulla grafts may produce trophic effects on host brain. These effects are most evident in animals with MPTP-induced damage to dopaminergic systems and may be nonspecific, possibly related in part to the brain injury that is induced by graft implantation. Trophic effects may contribute to the functional effects of adrenal medulla grafts: For intraparenchymal grafts, trophic effects that do not require cell survival may contribute small functional changes, while additional behavioral effects may require substantial chromaffin cell survival. The evidence for direct dopamine-mediated effects as compared to trophic mechanisms of action for these grafts in animal models for Parkinson's disease is presented. Clinical studies of adrenal medulla grafts in human patients are examined and compared in detail. When inspected closely, the various clinical studies are in general agreement on most points, although there are differences in the degree of improvement found, both across different studies and individual patients. It is concluded that some beneficial clinical effects occur, with small to modest changes in most patients and substantial improvement in a minority of patients. There also seem to be larger or more consistent changes in durations of "on" and "off" times in L-dihydroxyphenylalanine-treated patients. There are substantial side effects, and it is not clear that the clinical changes are sufficient to justify performing adrenal medulla transplantation in human patients as a routine procedure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Topics: Adrenal Medulla; Animals; Brain; Catecholamines; Chromaffin System; Clinical Trials as Topic; Corpus Striatum; Humans; Nerve Growth Factors; Parkinson Disease; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase
PubMed: 1977606
DOI: 10.1016/0014-4886(90)90026-o -
The American Journal of Pathology Sep 1990The authors previously evaluated the expression of a panel of chromaffin-related genes during histogenesis of the human adrenal medulla. In these studies, chromaffin and...
The authors previously evaluated the expression of a panel of chromaffin-related genes during histogenesis of the human adrenal medulla. In these studies, chromaffin and nonchromaffin adrenal neuroblasts were identified. To better characterize these nonchromaffin neuroblasts, the authors evaluated two additional markers: HNK-1, an antibody recognizing the migratory neural crest cell; and S-100, a protein expressed by sustentacular cells of the adrenal medulla. HNK-1 immunoreactivity was found in both chromaffin and nonchromaffin cell types at different times during development, marking the nonchromaffin lineage during the second trimester of gestation as well as the chromaffin lineage in the neonatal period. In addition, S-100 expression was noted in some nonchromaffin neuroblasts, and sustentacular cells were first identified at approximately 28 weeks of gestational age. These data suggest a model of human adrenal medullary histogenesis that incorporates the chromaffin, ganglionic, and sustentacular lineages known to constitute the adult adrenal medulla.
Topics: Adrenal Medulla; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Biomarkers; Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal; Child, Preschool; Chromaffin System; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Infant; Infant, Newborn; S100 Proteins; Staining and Labeling
PubMed: 1698027
DOI: No ID Found