A comparison of pituitary cells from lean and obese Zucker Rats.
Pituitary cells were isolated from lean and obese Zucker rats and compared with the use of two approaches. The first approach was to evaluate the capacity of an equal number of pituitary cells to stimulate growth in hypophysectomized rats. The rats implanted with lean pituitary cells grew at a similar rate as rats implanted with obese pituitary cells. Body composition was also determined to be similar in those rats receiving lean and obese rat pituitary cells. The second approach was to evaluate the in vitro secretory capacity of rat pituitary cells when placed in a superfusion system. Basal and stimulated growth hormone release was the same for lean and obese rat pituitary cells. These data support the hypothesis that the low level of serum growth hormone found in the Zucker obese rat is the result of a hypothalamic disorder and not a pituitary cell defect.
D000818:Animals; D007016:Hypophysectomy; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000637:transplantation; D051381:Rats; D011924:Rats, Zucker; D013045:Species Specificity