Failure of Sulphanilamide to Inhibit Calcification of Bone

Abstract

BENESCH and co-workers¹ have reported almost complete absence of calcification in the bones of rat fœtuses at term, following administration of large doses of sulphanilamide and sulphapyridine to the mothers during the last seven to ten days of the gestation period. Their report was based upon haematoxylin-staining of decalcified bones, with the reservation that this method might not be reliable, and upon X-ray examination of the bones of the foetuses from sulphonamide-treated rats, no mention being made of control observations upon normal fœtuses. The results of observations upon mice were stated to be equivocal.