title: Comparative study of the effect of hydrocortisone and thyroxine on suckling mouse small intestine in organ culture.
abstract: The influence of hydrocortisone (10(-8)--10(-5) M) and thyroxine (10 (-9)--10(-6) M) on intestinal epithelial cell differentiation and proliferation have been studied using explants of suckling mouse jejunum maintained in serum-free organ culture. Hydrocortisone induced the appearance of sucrase activity and increased trehalase, glucoamylase, lactase and alkaline phosphatase activities. Thyroxine was completely ineffective at all the concentrations used. None of these hormones affected the mitotic activity or the 3H-thymidine incorporation into DNA. These results demonstrate that hydrocortisone but not thyroxine acts directly on intestinal brush border membrane differentiation and that both hormones do not influence the proliferation of the epithelial cells during postnatal development.
mesh_terms: D000828:Animal Population Groups / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007583:Jejunum / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D008871:Microvilli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D008940:Mitotic Index; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; D013974:Thyroxine; D006854:Hydrocortisone