Despite being regarded as the most common toxicological target in the endocrine system, the adrenal gland has often been neglected in regulatory testing. Adrenal Toxicology addresses the increased interest in adrenocortical toxicology and the need for a resource that makes techniques available to examine adrenal endocrine disruption.

PART I - Introduction to adrenal toxicology. 1. Adrenal toxicology: Molecular targets, endocrine mechanisms, hormonal interactions, assessment models and species differences in toxicity. PART II - Hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal pathophysiology, endocrinology and pharmacology. 2. An overview of human adrenal dysfunction. 3. The hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis: Endocrinology, pharmacology, pathophysiology and developmental effects. PART III - Adrenal toxicology in vivo and in vitro. 4. The adrenal medulla as a target organ in toxicologic studies of rats and mice. 5. Adrenal gland background pathology of primates in toxicological studies. 6. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal toxicity in dogs. 7. Adrenocortical toxicology in vitro: Assessment of steroidogenic enzyme expression and steroid production in H295R cells. 8. Comparisons of adrenocortical cell lines as in vitro test systems. 9. Glucocorticoid pharmacotoxicological interactions and modulation of toxicity. PART IV - Adrenal dysfunction in environmental sentinel species. 10. Adrenocortical toxicology in fishes. 11. Adrenocortical toxicology in birds: Environmental contaminants and the avian response to stress.