THE RELATION OF ENDOCRINE FUNCTION TO RESISTANCE AND IMMUNITY. II. THE INDEPENDENCE OF CEVITAMIC ACID AND COMPLEMENT FOLLOWING ALTERATIONS IN THYROID FUNCTION IN THE RABBIT

Abstract

The changes of complement conc. accompanying alterations in thyroid activity in the rabbit, reported in the previous paper, were independent of the cevitamic acid level of the blood. In 7 thyroidec-tomized rabbits the complement conc. of the blood serum fell even though the cevitamic acid level was maintained within normal levels. The rise in complement conc. in 4 rabbits made thyrotoxic occurred in spite of an almost complete disappearance of cevitamic acid from the blood. The contrast between this observed independence of the levels of the 2 substances in the blood serum in the rabbit and the reported dependence in the guinea pig is discussed.