Beneficial Effects of Vitamin B 12 and Aureomycin in Rats Given Large Doses of Cortisone. ∗ †

Abstract

Summary

1. Fifty young male albino rats were uniformly divided into 5 equal groups and placed on a purified casein-glucose diet. After a preliminary period of 2 weeks, all except a control group were injected for 28 days with 1 mg of cortisone acetate daily with or without vit. B₁₂ and/or aureomycin. 2. Cortisone acetate alone induced complete inhibition of body growth, severe alopecia and marked atrophy of the thymus gland. Vit. B₁₂ (200 μg/kilo diet) or aureomycin (0.005%) largely counteracted these inhibitory effects of cortisone acetate, and the combination of the two was more effective than either alone (3). It was concluded that large doses of cortisone acetate given to young rats on a casein-glucose diet, increased their requirements for vit. B₁₂ and other factors. These data corroborate results previously obtained in a similar experiment on rats fed a corn-soybean meal diet.