By use of isolated gastric glands from rats at various ages, we demonstrated that full-term neonate and 1-day-old rats showed no response to cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-OP), carbachol, or Ca2+ ionophore. The same glands, however, were responsive to dibutyryl cAMP. A mature response was not found until the pups were 2 days old. Injection of hydrocortisone into newborn rats led to an increase in pepsinogen concentrations in gastric glands and also an increased responsiveness to CCK-OP, carbachol, and Ca2+ ionophore A23187 24 h after administration. Hydrocortisone thus caused precocious maturation of both pepsinogen accumulation and pepsinogen secretory responsiveness of gastric glands in rat pups.
Acoustic alterations of ultrasonic vocalization in rat pups induced by perinatal hypothyroidism