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1st Student's Major

Biological Sciences

1st Student's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Students' Professional Biography

Huda Ahmed is a student at MSU,Mankato majoring in Biology. Jonida Pone is a student at MSU,Mankato double majoring in Biology and Chemistry.

Mentor's Name

Penny Knoblich

Mentor's Email Address

penny.knoblich@mnsu.edu

Mentor's Department

Biological Sciences

Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Abstract

The outer portion, or cortex, of the adrenal gland produces three hormones, two of which are highly critical to normal function of the body. The cortex itself is divided into three layers, each responsible for a certain hormone synthesis. The outermost layer (zona glomerulosa) produces aldosterone, a hormone involved in the regulation of body sodium, blood volume, and blood pressure. The middle layer produces co rticosterone, a hormone that is active in a variety of biological functions, and necessary for life. Due to its effects on blood volume, aldosterone has been implicated in the development of hypertension, or high blood pressure. Aldosterone has been studied through the use of receptor blocking agents, which are associated with undesirable side effects, and complete adrenalectomy (removal of both adrenal glands), which eliminates both aldosterone and corticosterone. The overall objective of the current study is to produce a surgically induced low aldosterone rat model, with functioning lower adrenal layers, by cryo- destruction of only the zona glomerulosa. The purpose of the present study was to perfect histological techniques for fixation, sectioning and staining of the adrenal glands, and to evaluate the success of the cryo-destruction. Adrenal glands were removed from rats 2, 4, and 8 weeks after cryo-destruction of the left adrenal zona glomerulosa. Glands were fixed in paraffin, sectioned, stained, and viewed under a microscope. Percent destruction of the outer layer of the adrenal cortex was estimated. Results: Techniques for fixing, sectioning, and staining of the adrenals glands was perfected by trial and error. The percent of the zona glomerulosa successfully destroyed by the cryo-treatment was highly variable between rats.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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