ALTERATIONS IN CHICK THYROID FUNCTIONINDUCED BY COBALT12

Abstract

THE goitrogenic action of cobaltous salts in man has recently been reported from our laboratories (1-3). The goiters, which followed long term administration of cobaltous chloride, showed colloid depletion, cellular hypertrophy and hyperplasia, were accompanied by laboratory evidence of suppression of thyroid function and occasionally by clinical myxedema. The goiters disappeared on withdrawal of the drug. These observations have since been confirmed by others (4-12). In order to understand the mechanism of the goitrogenic action of cobalt in man, we sought to reproduce and study the effects in animals. However, the results could not be reproduced by feeding cobaltous chloride to rats and young chicks or by intravenous injections in rabbits.