Amphetamine Stimulates Protein Kinase and Calcium Influx to Increase Corticosterone and Aldosterone Secretion from Male Rat Adrenal Cells

Amphetamine is a potent central nervous system stimulant. Clinical trials have demonstrated that in healthy adults, low (therapeutic) doses of amphetamine can improve i.e., cognition, memory, attention behavior. An amphetamine overdose can affect cardiovascular, central nervous system, musculoskeletal, respiratory, urinary, or sexual function. Furthermore, amphetamine can activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to increase glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids released from adrenal. The object of this research was to find out the effect of amphetamine in vivo and in vitro on the production of corticosterone and aldosterone by Zona Fasciculata-Reticularis (ZFR) cells and Zona Glomerulosa (ZG) cells from male rats. For the in vivo study, the rats were given intraperitoneal injections of saline (1 ml/kg/day, group 1), amphetamine (1 mg/ml/kg/day, group 2), or amphetamine (5 mg/ml/kg/day, group 3) for 7 days and then the ZFR or ZG cells from the sacrificed rats were incubated with other drugs. For the in vitro study, the adrenal cells of ZFR or ZG from untreated rats were incubated with amphetamine combined with other drugs. The corticosterone and aldosterone concentrations in samples of the medium were measured using radioimmunoassay. This in vitro and in vivo study illustrated that amphetamine can increase corticosterone secretion by ZFR cells and aldosterone secretion by ZG cells from male rats.