ACTH LEVELS IN PLASMA IN PREOPERATIVE AND SURGICALLY STRESSED PATIENTS*

Abstract

ACTH levels in human plasma during surgical stress have not been estimated previously. Much evidence (1-7) has accumulated, however, con- cerning variations in adrenal cortical steroids in plasma during and after surgery. Although an increase in plasma ACTH with stress has been noted in animal experiments, it has been suggested by some investigators that elevation of corticos- teroids in plasma after surgery is controlled by changes in hepatic function and concentration of plasma corticosteroid rather than by a "direct drive" of ACTH release (8, 9).