Effect of Cortisone on Response to Endotoxin in Mature Rabbits

Treatment with cortisone prevented the early reaction of prostration and death produced by an intravenous injection of endotoxin in mature rabbits. 2. In some of the rabbits pretreated for 3 days with large doses of cortisone, bilateral cortical necrosis of the kidneys occurred within 24 hours after endotoxin. However, when a single injection of cortisone was given 6 hours before endotoxin, protection against prostration and death was demonstrable without the subsequent development of renal necrosis. 3. The early lethal reaction caused by small amounts of endotoxin following an injection of colloidal iron saccharate was prevented by cortisone. Cortisone did not protect against the development of renal cortical necrosis in these animals.