Elizabeth M. Cranston

Effect of tranquilizers and other agents on sexual cycle of mice.

Summary Five tranquilizing drugs (reserpine, chlorpromazine, promethazine, phenaglycodol and meprobamate), 2 sedative drugs (phenobarbital and ethyl alcohol), an adrenolytic agent (SKF 401) and an anticholinergic drug (atropine) have been shown to cause persistent diestrus in mice when administered in food or water.

Effect of Lithospermum ruderale on the gonadotropic potency of the pituitary gland.

Conclusion The gonadotropic potency of pituitary glands of adult female mice is decreased by the administration of Lithospermum ruderale as evidenced by a lack of increase in weight of the uterus plus vagina in 21-day-old mice which have been injected with pituitary glands from treated mice.

Lithospermum ruderale and the incidence of mammary tumors in mice.

Summary Ground Lithospermum ruderale, administered by drug-diet methods, lowered the incidence of mammary tumors from 58.1% to 2.8% in C3H mice and from 96.6% to 21.9% in ZD8Fi mice. The exact roles played by the drug and by possible diet restriction were not determined.

CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CYANINES AND RELATED COMPOUNDS IN FILARIASIS IN THE COTTON RAT

A group of more than sixty cyanine dyes and related compounds has been studiedla for chemotherapeutic activity against the naturally acquired Litomosoides carinii infestation in the wild cotton rat as part of a coordinated research program on filariasis under the auspices of thc Office of Scientific Research and Development. A similar study with a group of pyrryl, pyrimidyl and related cyanines was carried out simultaneously by Dr. A. D. Welch and his associate^^-^ at Western Reserve University. Care of the animals and administration of drugs was greatly facilitated by the use of special cages, holders, and feed cups designed by one of the authors (J. T. Litchfield, Jr.). The cages were made of a heavy wire mesh, were oblong in shape and of a size suitable for housing the rats individually. One end of the cage was designed as consisting of flanged sheet metal into which fitted a sliding door and to which either the holder or feed cup could be attached (FIGURE 1 ) . The holders were equipped with sliding doors at both ends and had a curved piece of metal extending most of the length inside the top, which was attached by springs to a metal bar outside the holder. With the holder in hand, slight pressure from the palm could be exerted on the bar, thus pressing the abdomen of the rat gently against the wire mesh bottom of the holder, through which intraperitoneal injections were then made. For drug diet administration, feed cups were attached to the metal flanges on the outside of the cages, thus allowing easy removal for daily filling and weighing. . Tests for chemotherapeutic activity were made in uivo against the adult filaria. Administration was usually by intraperitoneal injection every eight hours for eighteen doses with autopsy on the eighth day. The filaria were removed at autopsy, placed in a modified Sim’s solution and examined for motility for 24 hours. The minimum curative dose was taken to be that dose of drug which killed 50 per cent or more of the adult filaria. Therapeutic indices were determined as the ratio of the maximum tolerated dose (M.T.D.) to the minimum curative dose (M.C.D.) based

Anti-estrus drugs on subestrus of ovariectomized c3h mice.

Summary Certain drugs, namely reserpine, chlorpromazine, perphenazine, meprobamate, nidroxyzone and Enheptin, previously found to have anti-estrus effect in intact mice, did not alter the frequency of subestrus nor development of subestrus in ovariectomized C3H mice. Other findings in ovariectomized mice were: (1) frequency of subestrus tended to decrease with time and (2) restriction of food intake in mice with established subestrus did not alter frequency of subestrus.

Protective Action of Sulfapyridine Against Type II Pneumococcal Infections in Mice.

Summary With subcutaneous inoculations of 4000 to 8000 average lethal doses of a Type II pneumococcus in mice, the survival rates at both 30 and 60 days were (1) with 0.5% sulfapyridine in the food, 44%, and (2) with 1.0% sulfapyridine in the food, 63.4%. It is believed that the slight variations in drug-intake from day to day are more than counterbalanced by a more or less continuous drug-absorption from ingested food plus drug.