THE EFFECT OF CORTISONE AND STREPTOMYCIN ON EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS IN RABBITS

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Abstract
In white rabbits, both sensitized and non-sensitized to Mycobacterium tuberculosis comparisons were made of the effect of varying doses of cortisone with and without streptomycin therapy on experimentally induced pulmonary bovine tuberculous disease. A system for rating the disease process in the rabbit lung is descr. and the measurement of physiol. activity of cortisone by depression of circulating rabbit lymphocytes was employed. The expts. support previous work on the effect of cortisone on exptl. tuberculosis in that cortisone alone exerts an enhancing effect on the disease process. If a small dose of cortisone up to twice the human dose is used together with streptomycin, the deleterious effect may be so reduced that the healing process may proceed equally as well as in rabbits receiving streptomycin alone. With large doses of cortisone which exceed twice the human levels, the disease is enhanced in spite of the action of streptomycin.