Abstract
Summary
Neonatal treatment of mice with cortisol (days 1-10) resulted in decreased body weights at 2 months of age and increased thymus weights at 6 months. The spleens, inguinal lymph nodes, and adrenals from cortisol-treated animals were normal histologically and their weights did not differ from controls at 6 months of age. The estrous cycles were normal, and the reproductive organs did not suffer any apparent abnormalities. Treatments with cortisol followed by estrogen or with estrogen alone (days 11-15) altered the estrous cycle by prolonging the period of estrus or by eliminating the cycles altogether (persistent diestrus). The ovaries of these animals lacked corpora lutea and had hypertrophied interstitial tissue. The spleen, thymus, inguinal lymph nodes, and adrenals had normal weights and histological appearance. The body weights of all treated mice were lower than controls at 2 months of age, but only the weights of those given cortisol followed by estrogen remained depressed at 6 months.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.