A comparative study of the clinical and metabolic effects of ACTH derived from hogs, sheep, and cattle

Abstract Metabolic and clinical observations were made on four patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with ACTH derived by various processes from the pituitaries of hogs, sheep, and cattle. ACTH from each source was effective in inducing clinical remissions of arthritic activity. ACTH from each source induced sodium retention, a fall in serum potassium, a rise in fasting blood sugar, a rise in urinary excretion of 17-ketosteroids, and a decrease in circulating eosinophiles. No significant differences were noted in the qualitative or quantitative effects of the various types of ACTH when they were administered in doses which were similar according to standard biological assay methods. One subject exhibited partial refractoriness to intramuscular injections of ACTH. This refractoriness was not evident when ACTH was administered intravenously or when purified ACTH was administered intramuscularly. In this instance the refractoriness was not induced by previous therapy and it was not specific for any species-source of ACTH.