Wasting Disease Induced with Cortisol Acetate

A single injection of cortisol acetate into neonatal Swiss mice induced a highly fatal wasting disease. The course of the disease was less severe if the mice were older at the time of injection. Mortality following neonatal cortisol administration was lower in conventionally reared (CR) mice given oral Terramycin (62%) and in germ-free (GF) mice (32%) than in CR mice (95%). However, many symptoms characteristic of the wasting disease were observed in the antibiotic-treated and GF mice. GF mice, due to the low mortality in these animals, were used in studying the effects of neonatal cortisol acetate administration. The neonatal injection of cortisol acetate caused a rapid and severe involution of the thymus and spleen, and peripheral blood lymphocyte depletion. The lymphoid involution was followed, within 30 days, by morphologic recovery. The ability of mice to reject a tumor allograft was impaired for at least 50 days following neonatal cortisol treatment. The data reported support the concept that wasting mice, being immunologically deficient due to the primary effects of cortisol acetate on the thymus and other lymphoid tissues, are invaded and killed by microorganisms present in their environment.