The Functional Interrelationship of the Anterior Pituitary and the Adrenal Cortex

    September 1951 in “ Annals of Internal Medicine ”
    Danielle J. Ingle
    TLDR The anterior pituitary controls adrenal cortex size and activity through ACTH.
    The document reviews the functional interrelationship between the anterior pituitary and the adrenal cortex, emphasizing the role of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in controlling the size and secretory activity of the adrenal cortex. The anterior pituitary adjusts ACTH output to meet the organism's physiological needs for cortical hormones. The review includes laboratory and clinical observations, with some illustrations from the author's own research, highlighting that hypophysectomy leads to adrenal cortex atrophy, as initially demonstrated by early 20th-century studies.
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