[The effect of corticotropin and hydrocortisone on the dehydration of Krebs cycle substrates in E. coli cells].

Corticotropin and hydrocortisone were studied for their effect on dehydrogenase activity of microbial E. coli cells in the medium with the tricarboxylic acid cycle substrates, glucose and beta-oxybutyric acid. Corticotropin, as distinct from hydrocortisone, is shown to increase the dehydrogenase activity of microbial cells when pyruvate, isocitrate, oxaloacetate, alpha-ketoglutarate, succinate, furmarate, glucose and beta-oxybutyrate are used as substrates. Hydrocortisone induced a rise of the dehydrogenase activity of microbial cells only in the medium with isocitrate, alpha-ketoglutarate and fumarate, however to a less extent than corticotropin; it lowered this activity in the medium with pyruvate and glucose and did not change it with oxaloacetate, succinate and beta-oxybutyrate. The corticotropin effect is supposed to be extra-adrenal because microbial cells are also subjected to its action.