[Effect of growth hormone and thyroxine on renal development in Snell pituitary dwarf mice]

To elucidate the effects of growth hormone (GH) and thyroxine (T4) on renal development, we biochemically and morphologically examined the renal tissue of Snell pituitary dwarf mice (dw/dw) at different developmental stages. Differences in DNA, RNA and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) content between the dwarf and normal control mice first became apparent on the 10th day of age, and from this time that of dwarf mice showed no further increase in DNA and RNA content and decrease in IGF-1 content, whereas that of the normal control mice continued to increase. These findings indicated that GH and T4 may have effects on the renal development, and deficiency of these hormones to affect renal development from the 10th day of age.