Prevention of Cortisone Overdosage Effects with the Somatotrophic Hormone (STH)

Abstract

In expts. performed on rats treated with cortisone alone, somatotropic hormone (STH) alone and combination of these 2 hormonal principles at different dose levels, it was found that STH compensates not only for the somatic growth inhibitory effect of cortisone, but the 2 hormones are also antagonistic with regard to their effect upon a variety of other target organs. In particular, among the effects of cortisone, the involution of the adrenal cortex and of the thymus as well as the antiphlogistic effect (judged by the topical irritation arthritis test) were counteracted by simultaneous STH treatment. Even those organs which normally undergo an absolute or relative increase in size as a result of either cortisone or STH treatment, e.g., the heart, kidney, liver, are maintained in an essentially normal wt. range if both hormones are given concurrently.