RESUMO
In this study, some morphometric parameters of adrenals in outbred albino male rats were compared in the dynamics of general hypothermia at the ambient temperature of -18 degrees C. It was shown that in the course of general hypothermia, the increase of blood vessel relative volume in zona reticularis and in adrenal medulla was accompanied by the augmentation of nucleus size of adrenocorticocytes (mainly in zona fasciculata). Zona fasciculata reacted with a significant increase of blood vessel relative volume during the 1st hour of cold exposure, henceforth the parameters remained unchanged. Blood vessel relative volume in the left adrenal was found to significantly exceed that in the right adrenal. In zona glomerulosa of the left adrenal, blood vessel relative volume was reduced, while that one in zona glomerulosa of the right adrenal remained unchanged during the whole experiment. Volume density of mitochondria in the endocrine cells of zona fasciculata was found to increase, this effect being more pronounced in the right adrenal as compared to the left one. In the cells of both glands, the volume density of lipid inclusions was gradually reduced, while the relative volume of nucleoli was variable and there were no statistically significant changes detected during the course of hypothermia.