Miller K, Scott M P, Foster J R
Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1984 Jan;30(1):62-70. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(84)90007-2.
Inbred rats fed diets containing 150 ppm dioctyltin dichloride (DOTC) demonstrated a progressive reduction in thymic weight. This was accompanied by a decrease in both the number of circulating lymphocytes and their ability to respond to mitogenic stimulation. Morphologically the thymuses from treated animals showed a loss of cortical thymocytes and a marked vacuolation of the reticular epithelial cells (REC). After return to normal diet for 4 weeks vacuolated REC were still present and PHA-induced lymphocyte blastogenesis remained low. Adrenalectomy failed to alter the atrophic action of DOTC on the thymus and although administration of hydrocortisone alone produced thymic atrophy, no damage to the REC was observed. The results show that thymic atrophy resulting from DOTC administration differs from that induced by steroids and lends support for the hypothesis that DOTC acts selectively on the thymus in such a way that the humoral function of the organ may be affected.
喂食含150 ppm二氯化二辛基锡（DOTC）日粮的近交系大鼠胸腺重量逐渐减轻。这伴随着循环淋巴细胞数量及其对有丝分裂原刺激反应能力的下降。形态学上，经处理动物的胸腺显示皮质胸腺细胞减少，网状上皮细胞（REC）出现明显空泡化。恢复正常饮食4周后，空泡化的REC仍然存在，PHA诱导的淋巴细胞增殖仍较低。肾上腺切除术未能改变DOTC对胸腺的萎缩作用，尽管单独给予氢化可的松会导致胸腺萎缩，但未观察到对REC的损伤。结果表明，DOTC给药导致的胸腺萎缩与类固醇诱导的不同，支持了DOTC以可能影响该器官体液功能的方式选择性作用于胸腺的假说。
