The ultrastructure of the pituitary gland under chronic stimulation of the ACTH-cells in human pathology and animal experiments.
Chronic stimulation of the ACTH-cells in rats was undertaken by adrenalectomy, chemical adrenostasis, by application of a CRF-analog and by non-specific means. The ultrastructural findings of the ACTH-cells were compared to those of the human pituitary gland in Cushing's disease. The pituitaries of 12 patients with the hypothalamic-hypophyseal form of Cushing's syndrome were studied by electron microscopy. A good correlation of the experimental observations to those in human pathology could be seen in the first steps of reaction. There was an enlargement of the ACTH-cells with well developed organelles and there was a simple hyperplasia. The following forms of reaction, nodular hyperplasia and adenomas, were only observed in the human pituitary glands. Chronic suppression by steroids leads to a diminution of the single ACTH-cell and their organelles and a reduction. The appearance of Crooke's cells is specific for the human pituitary and is not reproduced in animal experiments.
D000236:Adenoma / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000315:Adrenalectomy; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000818:Animals; D003480:Cushing Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia; D008236:Lypressin / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000494:pharmacology; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats
D008236:Lypressin; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D008775:Methylprednisolone