Impact of Classic Adrenal Secretagogues on mRNA Levels of Urotensin II and Its Receptor in Adrenal Gland of Rats.

Urotensin 2 (Uts2) is a biologically active peptide involved in the regulation of a variety of physiological and pathophysiological processes. In both the human and rat adrenal gland, the expressions of the Uts2 gene and its receptor (Uts2r) have been described. This paper focuses on the description of the hormonal control of the mRNA levels of urotensin II and its receptor in the adrenal gland of the rat, both in vitro and in vivo. The initial in vitro experiments were carried out on freshly isolated rat adrenocortical cells and their primary culture. The obtained results indicated a stimulating PKA-independent effect of ACTH on the mRNA level in the tested cells, with no changes in the transcript. Subsequent in vivo experiments showed that ACTH-induced adrenal growth was accompanied by an elevated level of the mRNA, with unchanged expression of . In the other types of in vivo gland growth studied, enucleation-induced adrenal regeneration and compensatory growth of the gland, the mRNA levels of the studied genes showed no significant differences. The only exception was hemiadrenalectomy, which led to a significant increase in mRNA expression level 24 h after surgery. In 12-week-old rats of both sexes, gonadectomy led to a significant increase in the level of mRNA in the adrenal gland, an effect that was prevented by sex hormones' replacement. No changes in transcript levels were observed under these conditions. Thus, this study suggests that the regulation of and mRNA levels differs significantly in the rat adrenal gland. While transcript levels appear to be mainly dependent on ACTH action, mRNA levels are not under the control of this hormone.