Figure 5.

Altered adrenal medulla structure and function in SF-1 +/− mice. (a) Oil red O staining of male and female SF-1 +/+ and +/− adrenals reveals decreased adrenal cortex and medulla size in +/− adrenals. An eccentric medulla (unstained) is observed in male +/− adrenals, whereas a small central medulla with few chromaffin cells is observed in female +/− adrenals. Bar = 250 μM. (b) Histological analysis reveals an X zone (X) interior to the cortex and surrounding the medulla (M) in female +/+ adrenals. In female +/− adrenals, the central portion of the gland is composed largely of the X zone, with few medullary cells. Bar = 250 μM. (c) Male SF-1 +/+ and +/− adrenal norepinephrine and epinephrine content (n = 6 adrenals per group). The contribution of epinephrine to total adrenal catecholamine content was similar in SF-1 +/+ and +/− mice (60% vs. 55%). **, P ≤ 0.01 vs. wild type.