Abstract
Intensified mitotic proliferation and an increase of colloid in the thyroid gland of the normal guinea pig, following potassium iodide administration, have been reported by Loeb. 1 As colloid increased in the follicles, he noted that the follicular epithelium became distended and flattened.
Loeb and Bassett 2 reported that dried and powdered anterior pituitary substance produced an intense thyroid hyperplasia, and stimulated mitosis in the cells of the guinea pig thyroid.
This apparently successful use of potassium iodide and anterior pituitary extracts in producing experimental modifications in thyroid activity suggested the possibility that similar methods might be applied to a study of the behavior of mitochondria and the Golgi apparatus.
Thirty-five healthy, albino rats of both sexes, ranging in age from 75 to 90 days, were used in this study. Sixteen received daily injections of 0.6 cc. of pituitary extract, per animal. This series was divided into 4 groups, as follows: Group I received injections for 3 days; Group II for 5 days; Group III for 7 days, and Group IV for 9 days. The pituitary extract used was prepared according to the method of Loeb and Bassett. 2 Four animals received injections of 0.05 gm. each, of potassium iodide in distilled water, daily for 7 days. All injections were made intraperitoneally. The animals were sacrificed 24 hours after the last injection, and the thyroids removed and fixed immediately. Twelve animals were sacrificed as controls, in the course of the study.
The general histological findings in all groups confirm the work of Loeb and Bassett, although the changes induced by the experimental procedure are less intense than those described by these workers.
In the control glands the mitochondria are in the form of minute and very delicate rods, abundantly scattered throughout the cytoplasm.
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