TOXEMIA OF PREGNANCY IN THE RABBIT : II. ETIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO HEREDITARY FACTORS

No definite conclusions relative to the etiology of toxemia of pregnancy in the rabbit can be drawn from the evidence obtained to date, but certain findings are suggestive and will be investigated further in future studies. These findings suggest that the disorder in the rabbit is a generic variation of eclampsia in man. The incidence, clinical manifestations and pathological lesions indicate that the disorder is of hypophyseal origin and that the association with pregnancy is due to altered activity of that gland in the terminal stages of gestation. Hereditary factors related to race and certain constitutional variations were associated with increased susceptibility, but their expression was apparently dependent upon environmental conditions. The association of widespread reproductive disturbances with the outbreak of toxemia suggests a causal relation, and it is assumed that the endocrine imbalance was a primary factor in their genesis and was induced by changed environmental conditions. The general response of the population was manifest in functional disturbances which were of minor severity in normal groups and were expressed as toxemia in inherently susceptible animals.