Abstract
Summary
1) Single injections of 1 mg egg of cortisone on the chorio-allantoic membrane of chick embryos produce a striking and specific syndrome: mortality of the embryos is highly increased, growth of surviving embryos is markedly retarded and characteristic developmental modifications are produced: electrolytes and sugar metabolisms are disturbed. 2) Simultaneous administration of Tyrode's solution, consisting of saline and glucose, to such embryos brings about a slight rise in survival rate of embryos, owing probably to its compensation therapy effect upon loss of sodium chloride and sugar (reducing substance). 3) Treatment of cortisone-injected embryos with growth hormone (STH) results in striking alleviation of most of the cortisone caused changes. Mortality rate is lowered almost to the level of that occurring spontaneously during incubation: inhibition of growth as well as many deleterious modifications are successfully counteracted. 4) Various aspects of the interaction of hormones applied are discussed and the conclusion is reached that the action of growth hormone is antagonistic to that of cortisone.
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