title: High-Cholesterol Diet Disrupts the Levels of Hormones Derived from Anterior Pituitary Basophilic Cells.
abstract: Emerging evidence shows that elevated cholesterol levels are detrimental to health. However, it is unclear whether there is an association between cholesterol and the pituitary. We investigated the effects of a high-cholesterol diet on pituitary hormones using in vivo animal studies and an epidemiological study. In the animal experiments, rats were fed a high-cholesterol or control diet for 28 weeks. In rats fed the high-cholesterol diet, serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH; also known as thyrotrophin), luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) produced by the basophilic cells of the anterior pituitary were elevated in a time-dependent manner. Among these hormones, TSH was the first to undergo a significant change, whereas adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), another hormone produced by basophilic cells, was not changed significantly. As the duration of cholesterol feeding increased, cholesterol deposition increased gradually in the pituitary. Histologically, basophilic cells, and especially thyrotrophs and gonadotrophs, showed an obvious increase in cell area, as well as a potential increase in their proportion of total pituitary cells. Expression of the β-subunit of TSH, FSH and LH, which controls hormone specificity and activity, exhibited a corresponding increase. In the epidemiological study, we found a similar elevation of serum TSH, LH and FSH and a decrease in ACTH in patients with hypercholesterolaemia. Significant positive correlations existed between serum total cholesterol and TSH, FSH or LH, even after adjusting for confounding factors. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that the high-cholesterol diet affected the levels of hormones derived from anterior pituitary basophilic cells. This phenomenon might contribute to the pituitary functional disturbances described in hypercholesterolaemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shandong Academy of Clinical Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shandong Academy of Clinical Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shandong Academy of Clinical Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shandong Academy of Clinical Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shandong Academy of Clinical Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shandong Academy of Clinical Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shandong Academy of Clinical Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shandong Academy of Clinical Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Scientific Center, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shandong Academy of Clinical Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shandong Academy of Clinical Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.|Shandong Clinical Medical Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004036:Diet, Atherogenic; D055098:Endocrine Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D010903:Pituitary Gland, Anterior / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010908:Pituitary Hormones, Anterior / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D010908:Pituitary Hormones, Anterior; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone; D013972:Thyrotropin
keywords: anterior pituitary; high-cholesterol diet; hypercholesterolaemia; pituitary function; pituitary hormones