[Role of corticosteroids in the regulation of the sex-differentiated level of corticosteroid-binding globulin in rats].

Abstract

A study was made of the role of the adrenal cortex in the formation and modulation of the level of corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) in the serum of male and female rats. Corticosteroids were shown to be potent negative regulators of a CBG level in rats, the level of this protein being more sensitive to the action of these hormones in male rats than in females. Adrenalectomy in mature as well as in prepubertal rats did not level down sex differences in the level of CBG. A study of possible interdependent influence of corticosteroids and sex hormones on the level of CBG has shown that adrenocortical hormones produce an independent direct effect of the level of CBG. Producing a negative effect on the level of CBG, corticosteroids are involved in the modulation of sex dimorphism of the level of this protein in rats, enhancing sex differentiation of the CBG level in males and weakening it in female rats.