A Study of the Efficacy of Diethylstilbestrol As a Causative Agent of Polyarteritis Nodosa

Since the compound diethylstilbestrol exerts the same effects on the female rat reproductive system as the natural estrogens, the problem was presented: will excess amounts of diethylstilbestrol duplicate the same degree of stress in male animals that natural estrogens do? Will it also trigger the polyarteritic response when it is followed with FSH treatment? This investigation, then , was undertaken to determine whether polyarteritis nodosa could be induced in white male rats by the administration of diethystilbestrol at three-day intervals for thirty days, followed immediately by treatment with FSH at the same intervals for an additional thirty days