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THE EFFECT OF INJECTED THIOUREA ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOME ORGANS OF THE CHICK EMBRYO1
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1956
Year
FertilityThyroid HypertrophyThyroid GlandOrgan DevelopmentReproductive BiologyPropyl ThiouracilThe Chick Embryo1EmbryologyReproductive PhysiologyBody CompositionParathyroid HormonePublic HealthAnimal PhysiologyEndocrine MechanismMorphogenesisEmbryonic DevelopmentEndocrinologyBiologyDevelopmental BiologyPhysiologyThyroid DisordersThyroid HormoneMetabolismMedicine
THE thyroid gland of the chick embryo is sensitive to antithyroid compounds, such as thiourea and methyl and propyl thiouracil. The presence of a goitrogen in the egg, whether deposited there from maternal dietary sources (1) or injected directly (2, 3, 4, 5), results in retarded growth, incomplete retraction of the yolk sac, delayed hatching, increased mortality and thyroid hypertrophy. Another effect is atrophy of the adrenal cortex accompanied by hypertrophy of the medulla (6). Yushok (7) found that the liver weighs much less than normal in hypothyroid embryos, whereas the heart and kidneys exhibit relatively smaller decreases in size, and the brain little or none; also, he noted a considerable reduction in the cytochrome-c content of the organs and the entire body. The investigation described below was undertaken to supplement the above results previously obtained by Yushok (7) in this laboratory. It seemed desirable to determine whether or not the weights (wet and dry) of additional organs (such as the adrenals and gonads) is affected when thiourea is administered in different amounts and at various times during incubation.