Remission in Cushing's Syndrome with o,p′-DDD1

o,p′-DDD was administered orally in doses of 1–10 g daily to 2 subjects with Cushing's syndrome (one with nontumorous adrenocortical hyperfunction and one with metastatic adrenal carcinoma). The patients were treated for 199 and 125 days, respectively. Steroid studies were carried out before and at intervals during treatment with the drug. In the subject with nontumorous adrenocortical hyperfunction the studies were continued for 143 days after discontinuation of therapy. In both subjects the administration of o,p′-DDD resulted in a striking remission in the clinical and biochemical features of Cushing's syndrome. There was a prompt reduction in the urinary excretion of 7-hydroxycorticoids (17-OH-CS) and in the early weeks of therapy this occurred in the absence of a commensurate decrease in the plasma levels of 17-OH-CS and in the cortisol secretion rate. The diminution in urinary 17-OH-CS correlated well with a decrease in the percentage of injected cortisol excreted as the glucuronide and in the urinar...