Histochemical Studies of Effects of Cortisone on Fetal and Newborn Rats.

Abstract

A histochemical study of the effect of cortisone on the liver, intestine and kidney of fetal and post-partum rats was made. There were no histochemically observable effects of cortisone on the fetus until the 16th day of age. Beginning with this day it was found that cortisone caused an increase in glycogen deposition and a decrease in RNA content of the hepatic parenchyma. In post-partum rats these liver effects were noted at all ages. The intestinal striated border demonstrated a precocious acquisition of alkaline phosphates and RNA as compared to controls of the same age. In the renal tubules these effects were manifest in the 16- and 18-day-old fetuses, while the intestinal effects were obtained in the 18- and 20-day-old fetuses. Similar precocious increases in renal and intestinal alkaline phosphatase and RNA were noted in the cortisone-treated newborns beginning with the 9th day of age.