Effects of cortisone acetate upon hydration of embryonic palate in two inbred strains of mice

An absolute and relative loss of water was recorded in 169 palates derived from the offspring of cortisone treated and control mice. Experimental sample consisted of 38 time‐pregnant females of A/Jax and C57BL inbred strains. Animals were killed on thirteen and one‐third, fifteen and one‐third or eighteen and one‐third day of gestation and the fetuses were removed by laparotomy. Palatine shelves were dissected, weighed, desiccated and weighed again, under standardized conditions. The results tend to confirm the hypothesis that cortisone‐induced mechanical incompetence of embryonic palate may be associated with disturbed water metabolism and diminished cohesion of the tissues. It has been proposed that the observed differences of response of each strain to teratogenic and palatal edema‐inducing action of cortisone may be based upon genetically controlled metabolic polymorphism which determines the pathway of cortisone biotransformation and decay in the tissues.