Abstract
Summary
1. The administration to mice of Cortisone in doses approximately 50 times the dose for humans produced a striking lymphopenia, loss in body weight, atrophy of thymus and spleen, and diminution in size of adrenal cortex, salivary glands, pituitary, and hibernating fat bodies. A number of histologic changes are briefly described.
2. The anatomic findings correspond to those of the “alarm and adaptation” phenomena of Selye except for atrophy of the adrenal cortex in place of hypertrophy. Cortisone per se may produce some of the morphologic changes associated with the “alarm reaction.”
3. Administration of these excessively large doses of Cortisone may produce exhaustion of protective mechanisms, including antibody formation.
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