The Estrogenic Activity of Residues Obtained from Chickens Treated with Pellets of Diethylstilbestrol

A REVIEW of the literature concerning the deposition of estrogens in the different body tissues of chickens which had been treated with diethylstilbestrol does not reveal that workers in this area are in agreement. Lorenz (1953) has expressed the opinion that data on the absorption and distribution of diethylstilbestrol and other estrogens are fragmentary in spite of the fact that the estrogens play an important role in the production of meats and foodstuffs. He has criticized the data obtained by the use of various extraction procedures because of the lack of proof of efficiency of these procedures. Bird (1950) has stated that estrogens are widely divergent in their ability to leave active deposits in the depot fats throughout the body of poultry. Bird, Pugsley and Klotz (1947) claimed to have demonstrated the presence of residual estrogen in the tissues of cockerels fed the dimethyl ethers of stilbestrol, hexestrol and dienestrol… .