THYROTROPHIC HORMONE CONTENT OF THE BLOOD SERA AND PITUITARY GLANDS OF THIOUREA-, SULFADIAZINE-TREATED AND THYROIDECTOMIZED RATS¹

Abstract

THE ADMINISTRATION of thiourea, its derivatives and certain of the sulfonamides to mammals results in the development of an enlarged hyperplastic thyroid associated with a state of functional hypothyroidism (the Mackenzies, 1943; Astwood, Sullivan, Bissell and Tyslowitz, 1943). Experiments with radioactive iodine (Franklin and Chaikoff, 1943, 1944; Keston, Goldsmith, Gordon and Charipper, 1944; Schachner, Franklin and Chaikoff, 1944; Franklin, Chaikoff and Lerner, 1944; Rawson, Tannheimer and Peacock, 1944; Franklin, Lerner and Chaikoff, 1944) have shown that these drugs act by interfering with the production of normal thyroid principle. It is then postulated (the Mackenzies, 1943; Astwood,et al., 1943) that the lowered thryoxine concentration of the blood, or the resulting lowered metabolic rate of the body, invokes an increased production of the thyrotrophic factor which, in turn, induces marked overgrowth and histological hyper activity of the thyroid gland.