Innervation of the mammalian anterior pituitary: a mini review.
The mammalian anterior pituitary was not known to be innervated other than by a few autonomic nerve fibers. Recent studies, however, have demonstrated otherwise. A hypothesis of neural-humoral dual regulation of the mammalian anterior pituitary has been postulated based on the following findings: (1) the presence of substantial amounts of nerve fibers in the anterior pituitary of a number of mammalian species; (2) close contact of the nerve fibers with the gland cells, even forming synapses; (3) the nerve fibers originate, as least partly, from the hypothalamus; (4) the nerve fibers respond actively to changes in hormonal levels of the organism; and (5) stimulation of the nerve fibers changes the secretory activities of the gland cells.
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Institute of Neurosciences, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, PR China.
D000315:Adrenalectomy; D000663:Amphibians; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002415:Cats; D004285:Dogs; D000882:Haplorhini; D006728:Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010903:Pituitary Gland, Anterior / Q000294:innervation* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D013569:Synapses / Q000648:ultrastructure
D006728:Hormones