[Thymus-hypophysis-thyroid interrelation in rats after administration of a heterologous extract of thymus gland]

The Authors have investigated the effects of a thymus chromatographic fraction on TSH, T3, T4 serum values in thyroidectomized and normal controls rats before and after thymus treatment. The decrease in TSH values of thyroidectomized rats points out a possible inhibitory effect which the thymus extract may have at either the level of the adenohypophysis or hypothalamus. Moreover the TSH values in the euthyroid rats after thymus treatment showed a slight decrease, this changes are much more evident in the thyroidectomized rats after thymus treatment. In fact the plasma TSH of thyroidectomized rats drops from 97.5 +/- 4 microU/ml before thymus treatment, to 76.25 +/- 10 microU/ml after thymus treatment.