Influence of Dietary Protein and Cortisone Acetate on Adrenalectomized Rats

¹ From the Bureau of Biological Research and Department of Zoology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey

Adrenalectomized immature rats were maintained for 20 days with 0.15 mg cortisone acetate when fed a 20% casein diet. The effectiveness of the maintainence dosage of cortisone acetate (0.15 mg) was only slightly reduced when animals were fed a 5% casein diet, but was ineffective when a protein-free diet was fed. Liver protein concentrations in normal and adrenalectomized rats were comparable. However, cortisone-maintained adrenalectomized rats had less liver glycogen and lipid than their respective dietary controls. Liver protein concentration varied directly with the percentage dietary protein while lipid and glycogen concentrations exhibited an inverse variation.