The Production Rate of Cortisol in Man
Widespread use of cortisone and similar compounds has proceeded without substantial knowledge concerning the amounts of such substances which are produced by the adrenal glands in health and in disease. The present study is an endeavor to gain information concerning the physiologic elaboration of hormones by the adrenal glands by the use of an isotope-dilution technique. The results of previous attempts to estimate the daily production of cortisol are reviewed. The full text of the paper must be consulted for details of the method and a discussion of the problems involved. The authors' results indicate that normal quiescent subjects produce from 4.9 to 27.9 mg of cortisol daily. Subjects with severe, active, but non-endocrine, diseases produce from 10 to 31.9 mg daily. Stimulation of the adrenals by adrenocorticotrophin resulted in an extraordinarily variable production, ranging from 21.8 to 257 mg/day. In Addison's disease the production rates were between 0.6 and 1.2 mg daily. It is interesting that in the diseased states studied the production of cortisol did not increase significantly above the normal.
