Effect of Large Doses of Aureomycin, Terramycin, and Chloramphenicol on Livers of Mice and Dogs

DURING the course of clinical trials to determine the value of intravenous aureomycin therapy in various infections, we encountered several patients who exhibited jaundice, which, in some cases, was accompanied with pathologic changes in the liver. Our suspicions were aroused that the hepatic changes might be related to the administration of aureomycin because they did not appear to be the result of the disease for which the patient was being treated. Furthermore, all the patients who displayed jaundice had received very large doses of aureomycin. The details of these cases are reported in the preceding article in this issue. 1 As a result of those observations, we decided to investigate the possible toxic effects of aureomycin on the livers of mice and dogs. Several reports in the literature suggested that mice tolerate aureomycin well. Up to 200 mg. per kilogram of body weight per day given orally for eight weeks