A SUGGESTED THERAPY FOR THE PREVENTION OF GRANULOCYTOPENIA INDUCED BY THIOUREA

Abstract

The administration of thiourea and its derivatives and the sulfonamides to animals results in the development of a state of hypothyroidism.¹These substances produce this effect by interfering with the synthesis of normal thyroid hormone.²Clinical studies have shown that thiourea and thiouracil are effective in the treatment of hyperthyroidism.³The possibility of the occurrence of agranulocytosis in patients treated with these drugs has been indicated in the work of Astwood.⁴The present work will demonstrate that a neutrophilic granulocytopenia also results from feeding thiourea to adult rats. Since the granulocytopenia produced in weanling rats fed sulfonamides has been corrected by liver,⁵it was decided also to test the effects of solubilized liver⁶on the thiourea-induced neutropenia. Eighteen adult male rats weighing 200 to 240 Gm. were fed a standard laboratory ration containing 0.5 per cent thiourea for fifty-eight days. Six animals of another