ATROPHY OF THE FETAL MOUSE ADRENAL FOLLOWING DECAPITATION IN UTERO

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Abstract
In decapitated mouse fetuses and in litter-mate controls, the effects of the decapitation upon the adrenal cortex were determined by volumetric and histologic studies. The results were essentially like those heretofore reported for the rat. The lipid-free zone of the rat cortex was not observed, however, in mouse fetuses, neither in decapitated fetuses nor in controls. In general, the adrenals of decapitated fetuses were smaller than those of controls, both in absolute volume and in the ratio “adrenal volume/body weight.” Microscopically, the adrenals of decapitated fetuses differed from those of controls in the following respects: the cortex was narrower; the cortical cells were smaller, less eosinophilic and more vacuolated; the lipid droplets in cells were larger and more widely separated from each other. These volumetric and histologic changes varied more or less directly with the duration of the decapitation. They were very conspicuous when the experimental period included the interval between days 18 and 19 of pregnancy.