Effect on the weights of fetuses and fetal lymphoid organs of adrenalin given to rabbits at a critical period of pregnancy: Observations on spontaneous and induced runting

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Abstract
The effect of injecting adrenalin at a critical period in pregnant rabbits was investigated. This critical period is around the twenty‐second day of pregnancy, when the maternal blood supply to the uterus is naturally low. The relative weights of thymus, spleen and appendix and the total body weights of the fetuses were measured both one week after the injection and eight weeks after birth to examine long range effects. Controls consisted of saline‐injected and untreated rabbits.The adrenalin injection reduced significantly the fetal weight compared with that of the controls. The relative thymus weight was found to be significantly correlated positively with fetal weight in both adrenalin‐treated animals and controls. However, there was no significant difference in relative thymus weight between the two groups.Of the two litters raised to eight weeks, the young of the untreated litter showed a fairly constant growth rate. The pups of the adrenalin‐treated litter started out smaller than the controls but at about three and one‐half weeks the former overtook the controls; at eight weeks they were, on the average, larger. With this small sample size, the difference in weights cannot be shown to be statistically significant, but the litters show consistent differences.