Subcutaneous Administration of Cortin Compounds in Solid Form to the Rat

Numerous substances having a low solubility in the body fluids have been administered experimentally by implanting them in solid form within the body tissues. We have administered to rats solid forms of extracts of adrenal cortex and 3 pure crystalline compounds which are identified in the literature as A, B, and E.1In Experiment 1, ten male rats having a range in body weight of from 100 to 110 g were matched into pairs and were all adrenalectomized in single-stage aseptic operations. At the time of adrenalectomy a single crystal of compound E which did not exceed 2 mg in weight was implanted subcutaneously into one animal of each pair. The 5 untreated control animals developed symptoms of adrenal insufficiency and died at intervals of 5, 6, 10, 10, and 12 days after operation. The animals which had received the single implants of compound E died at intervals of 15, 20, 23, 23, and 28 days after operation.For Experiment 2, a total extract of cortin was prepared for implantation. Compounds A, B, E, and som...