Ultrastructural and hormonal changes in the contralateral adrenal gland in unilateral adrenal gland ischemia: an experimental study in rats.

While it is well known that unilateral tissue ischemia may result in contralateral damage in some paired organs, there is no universally accepted mechanism to explain why these contralateral changes occur. The aim of the present study was to investigate the ultrastructural and hormonal changes that occur in the contralateral nonischemic adrenal gland after unilateral ischemia of an adrenal gland in a rat model. The animals were divided into four groups of four rats each; namely, a control group which received a sham operation without any ischemic insult, a 2-h ischemic group, a 4-h ischemic group, and an 8-h ischemic group. The left adrenal blood vessels were ligated in all ischemia groups and blood samples were taken for hormonal study 2, 4, and 8 h later, after which bilateral adrenalectomy was performed to determine the ultrastructural changes. The plasma concentrations of aldosterone and cortisol were determined by radioimmunoassays. There was an increase in both aldosterone and cortisol levels related to the duration of the ischemia, but the differences among the groups were not statistically significant. Contralateral ultrastructural damage such as heterochromatin in nuclei, mitochondrial degeneration, endoplasmic reticulum cisternal widening, increased lipid droplets, and lysosomes, were demonstrated electron-microscopically after unilateral adrenal ischemia.

Influence of unilateral ovarian torsion to the contralateral ovary.

An experimental study was planned to show the suppression of contralateral ovary in unilateral ovarian torsions. In the study, 55 New Zealand female rabbits were used. Basal and stimulation 17 beta estradiol values were measured and unilateral torsion in 20 rabbits, bilateral torsion in ten rabbits and bilateral oophorectomy in five rabbits were performed. Eight, 16, 24 hours after the procedure, 17 beta estradiol levels were measured again and the second stimulation values maintained. The control group consisted of 20 rabbits. Values were analyzed statistically and the results were significant.