Effect of daily injections of ACTH on growth and on the adrenal and lymphoid tissues of two strains of immature fowls

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Abstract
The effects of daily injections of ACTH (30 IU/kg) or physiological saline on growth and on adrenal and lymphoid tissues of Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Light Sussex (LS) chickens were compared at 1, 2 and 3 wk of age. Saline injections retarded skeletal growth in both strains during the 1st wk but only affected weight gain in LS birds. ACTH injections depressed growth rate, caused adrenal enlargement and deplenished adrenal cholesterol to the same extent in both strains. ACTH caused a greater reduction in bursal size in RIR than in LS birds. Spleen size was reduced by ACTH only in RIR birds. At 2 and 3 wk the plasma concentrations of corticosterone of RIR birds were greater than those of LS birds. Plasma corticosterone concentrations were within the normal range 24 h after the last injection of ACTH in both strains. Plasma concentration of growth hormone was unaffected by ACTH treatment in RIR birds, but it was increased in LS birds after 3 wk of treatment.