Summary
The intra-glandular vascular arrangement in the adrenal has been studied using non-radioactive microspheres injected by three different routes: in-vivo injection into the left ventricle under pentobarbital anesthesia, postmortem orthograde, and postmortem retrograde injection. The doses of microspheres were 105 (average size 24.7 μm), 106 (15.8 μm) and 107 (9.9 μm). The entrapment rate of microspheres by the medulla as compared with the whole gland was measured in the serially sectioned tissue (section thickness 60 μm).
The entrapment rates of 25-μm microspheres differed between the orthograde and retrograde injections, while the entrapment rates for 15-μm microspheres were essentially similar irrespective of the route of injection.
Our results support the conclusion from previous microangiographic studies that the adrenal cortex and medulla are supplied by different arteries but have a common venous outflow, and that direct communication between cortical and medullary sinusoids is not likely. The medullary blood flow per gram tissue weight is estimated to be larger than cortical blood flow.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bennet HW, Kilham L (1940) The vessels of the adrenal gland of the cat. Anat Rec 77:447–471
Coupland RE (1975) Blood supply of adrenal gland. Handbook of Physiology, Section 7, Endocrinology Vol 6, Adrenal gland, The Williams and Wilkins Co, Baltimore, pp 283–294
Coupland RE, Selby JE (1976) The blood supply of the mammalian adrenal medulla, A comparative study. J Anat 122:539–551
Dempster WJ (1974) The nature of the venous system in the adrenal gland. Tohoku J Exp Med 112:63–77
Elfvin LG (1965) The ultrastructure of the capillary fenestrae in the adrenal medulla of the rat. J Ultrastruct Res 12:687–704
Fan F, Schuessler GB, Chen RYZ, Chien S (1979) Determination of blood flow and shunting of 9- and 15-μm spheres in the regional beds. Am J Physiol 237:H25–33
Flint JM (1900) The blood supply, angiogenesis, organogenesis, reticulum and histology of the adrenal. Johns Hopkins Hosp Rep 4:154–227
Fujita H (1974) Adrenal medulla. In: Kurosumi K, Fujita H (eds) Atlas of electron micrograph, functional morphology of endocrine glands. Igaku-Shoin Ltd, Tokyo pp 374–371
Gersh I, Grollman A (1941) The vascular pattern of the adrenal gland of mouse and rat and its physiological response to changes in glandular activity. Contrib Embryol Carnegie Inst Wash 29:111–126
Henderson JR, Daniel PM (1978) Portal circulation and their relation to countercurrent system. Quart J Exp Physiol 63:355–369
Heyman MA, Payne BD, Hoffman JIE, Rudolph AM (1977) Blood flow measurement with radionuclide-labelled particles. Prog Cardiovasc Dis 20:55–79
Kikuta A, Murakami T (1982) Microcirculation of the rat adrenal gland: a scanning microscopic study of vascular cast. Am J Anat 16:19–28
Kramer RJ, Sapirstein LA (1967) Blood flow to the adrenal cortex and medulla. Endocrinology 81:403–405
Lever JD (1935) Observation of the adrenal blood vessels in the rat. Arch Pathol 20:9–21
Lifson N, Kramlinger KG, Mayland RR, Lender EJ (1980) Blood flow to the rabbit pancreas with special reference to islet of Langerhans. Gastroenterology 79:466–473
Motta P, Muto M, Fujita T (1979) Three dimensional organization of mammalian adrenal cortex. Cell Tissue Res 796:23–38
Pohorecky LA, Wurtman RJ (1971) Adrenocortical control of epinephrine synthesis. Pharmacol Rev 23:1–35
Verhofstad AAJ, Lensen WFJ (1973) On the occurrence of lymphatic vessel in the adrenal gland of the white rat. Acta Anat 84:475–483
Wurtman RJ, Axelrod J (1965) Adrenaline synthesis: control by the pituitary gland and adrenal glucocorticoids. Science 150:1464–1465
Wurtman RJ, Axelrod J (1966) Control of enzymatic synthesis of adrenaline in the adrenal medulla by adrenal cortical steroid. J Biol Chem 241:2301–2305
Wurtman RJ, Axelrod J (1972) Adrenocortical control of biosynthesis of epinephrine and proteins in the adrenal medulla. Pharmacol Rev 24:411–426
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hamaji, M., Miyata, M. & Kawashima, Y. A study of the vascular arrangement in the rat adrenal gland using non-radioactive microspheres. Cell Tissue Res. 240, 277–280 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00222335
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00222335