DEPENDENCE OF THE SYMPATHOADRENAL ACTIVITY ON THE NUTRITIONAL-STATUS IN CORTICOSTERONE TREATED RATS

1. An integrated sympatho-adrenal (SA) activity, expressed in terms of urinary catecholamines (CA) excretion, and direct sympathetic activity in the interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT), expressed in terms of noradrenaline (NA) turnover, were studied in corticosterone treated stock fed and sucrose overfed rats. 2. Corticosterone in stock fed rats significantly decreased both the rate of IBAT NA turnover and its mass as well as urinary NA excretion but did not change either IBAT NA content, urinary adrenaline excretion or adrenal CA content. 3. Sucrose overfeeding significantly increased SA activity, i.e. the rate of NA turnover in the IBAT and urinary excretion of CA. However, corticosterone did not inhibit the sucrose-induced sympathetic nervous system activation but potentiated the activity of adrenal medulla. 4. The results suggest that the effect of corticosterone treatment on the SA activity in rats is dependent, in addition to other factors, on the nutritional status of the animals.