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The Influence on the Growth and Progeny of the Guinea Pig Resulting from Oral Administration of Aureomycin (Chlortetracycline) and Penicillin¹

Department of Anatomy, Dental School, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Aqueous solutions of aureomycin and penicillin as dietary supplements were administered orally to groups of guinea pigs to study some of the effects of these antibiotics on the animals. First-litter progeny of animals treated with antibiotics showed a slight increase in mean birth weight over that of first-litter progeny of control animals. However, this increase was not apparent after 6 weeks of administration of the low level of 0.1 mg of the drugs to the young. No other effects on reproduction were observed.

Male guinea pigs fed 0.3 and 0.5 mg of aureomycin per day showed a significant average weight gain over the controls after a period of 9 weeks. Of the organs and tissues removed for study, only the tibias of the experimental animals weighed significantly more than those of the controls. The heart and spleen weighed significantly less in the antibiotic-fed animals than in the controls. Sections of these organs and tissues indicated no apparent histological differences between experimental and control animals. Increased structural growth was noted in the greater length of the tibia in the aureomycin-fed animals than in the controls.

² Present address: Department of Anatomy, College of Medical Evangelists, Loma Linda, California.

Manuscript received 10 June 1955.