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ACTH Response Test



 Submitted by Nic on April 25, 2011
ACTH stands for Adrenocorticotropic Hormone. This hormone is produced in the pituitary gland which is located in the brain. The ACTH hormone is supposed to stimulate the adrenal glands. These glands are located near each kidney. The adrenal glands release cortisol which is a steroid that is designed to be released when the body is under some form of stress. An individual may suffer from insufficient or excessive cortisol levels in his or her blood. This problem may be caused by the pituitary not functioning properly. The confusion here is that this problem may be cause by the adrenal glands not responding to the ACTH release by the pituitary. For this reason, the ACTH response test is conducted.

The ACTH response test is also known as the ACTH stimulation test. This test is conducted to check how the adrenal glands react to the presence of ACTH in the blood. The ACTH test is conducted after a person reports to the doctor with abnormal cortisol levels. This abnormal level is the symptom but not the cause of the problem. When the patient presents at the clinic for testing, he or she needs to have not consumed any food for at least 4 hours prior to the test. A sample of blood is then collected from the patient’s body for analysis. This is used to establish the base or control levels for both cortisol and for ACTH. Once this has been done, the patient will be given a dose of synthetically prepared ACTH. This is supposed to stimulate the adrenal glands into producing cortisol. When this is done, the individual’s cortisol levels are tested again. The subsequent ACTH response test is conducted one hour after the synthetic hormone has been administered to the patient’s blood. The level of cortisol in the blood in the subsequent ACTH response test is used to determine the state of the adrenal glands. If these glands are responding normally, the patient will be diagnosed with a problem associated with the pituitary gland and not with the adrenal glands. Further testing may be necessary to establish why the culprit gland or glands are misfiring.

ACTH response testing may lead to mild symptoms in the patient as the patient may feel stressed because of the sudden onset of cortisol in the system. This is particularly true of patients who suffer from pituitary insufficiency because their adrenal glands will respond normally to the presence of the synthetic ACTH.
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