Effect of adrenal blocking chemicals on viral and respiratory infections of chickens.

In a series of experiments chickens were treated with chemicals which block the production of corticosterone by the adrenal cortex prior to being challenged with respiratory disease (and other) agents in order to determine if the course of the diseases could be altered. Some chickens received a single intramuscular injection (14 mg/kg) of 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis/p-chlorophenyl/ethane (ABC) dissolved in corn oil (20 mg/mL) at least 12 h before challenge. Other chickens received feed containing 500 mg/kg of metyrapone for at least 12 h before and during the challenge infection. Treated chickens were more resistant than the untreated controls to Newcastle disease virus, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, combined M. gallisepticum-Newcastle disease virus infection, and avian adenovirus group II infection. The feeding of erythromycin (1 g/kg of feed), one day before and during the challenge, reduced the severity of M. gallisepticum infection. The effects of feeding both metyrapone and erythromycin resulted in a further increase in resistance. Chickens which had been treated with ABC had less severe lesions and greater postchallenge weight gain than the controls in response to a secondary Escherichia coli infection.