抄録
Since its discovery cortisone has been widely availed to date for various diseases, though the mode of its action against some of them is still remained unclear. This agent, however, shows sometimes such untoward effect as the uprise of edema or others.
Our experiment was designated to make a nearer approach to the toxicity of cortisone in overdosage.
Mice were administered with the cortisone (of the Merck Co. Ltd.) for 5 days running (2.5mg per day for the overdosage group and 0.25mg per day for the usual dosage group). As the administration begins, the reticulocytes in the circulating blood tend to increase (124‰ on 5th day in the overdosage group and 68‰ in the usual dosage group), whereas Heinz bodies never appear.
Of the blood taken from the incised heart after the 5 day administration of cortisone the erythrocyte count is found greatly reduced (5,240,000) in the overdosage group, while no change in the usual dosage (10,320,000).
Heinz body formation is promoted in both groups (156‰ by the overdosage, 82‰ by the usual dosage and 48‰ in the control group).
When the blood serum from the cortisone-administered animal is added to Tyrode's solution that is cultivating the surviving chick embryo, the growth of tissues tends to be inhabited (the comparative values against control on 4th day of cultivation: heart 1.05, lung 0.96, kidney 0.95, spleen 0.90 and liver 0.75). To be noted, the growth of the liver is ready to be retarded even by the blood serum of the usual dosage of cortisone (the comparative growth value on 4th day 0.84).
As to the tissue respiration of the liver, spleen, kidney and lung, the large amount of cortisone disturbe the respiration of organs except the kidney[liver 6.86] (control 11.19), spleen 8.25 (12.72), kidney 19.68 (19.33), lung 6.13 (7.94)], and, to be noted, the liver can easily be impaired even by the usual dose of cortisone.
For the data stated above it seems that cortisone when administered in the large amount brings about anemia and disturbances in some organs but kidney. Moreover, even the usual dosage of cortisone is likely to endanger the liver.
On the other hand, ACTH (of the Merck Co. Ltd, intramuscularly administered in the rate of 1 or 0.1 unit per day for 5 days running) and DOCA (Syncorta, intramuscular administration of 0.05 or 0.005mg per day for 5 days running) show little or no change throughout the same examinations as held for the cortisone.
