Abstract
Studies of the pituitary following thyroidectomy in young rats 1 have been reported, describing the appearance of large numbers of basophilic cells containing hyaline material, as a constant feature in all rats in which thyroidectomy was adequate, as evidenced by retardation of body growth, of kidney growth and alterations in the ratios of gonads and adrenals to kidney growth. 2 During these experiments a puzzling feature was the variation in the acidophile loss. In some cretin pituitaries, all acidophiles had disappeared, while in others there was a moderate or slight reduction in number. It was thought that perhaps a factor in the disappearance of the acidophiles might be some incidental trauma to nerves in the course of the thyroidectomy, 3 as recent work had suggested a nervous control of the anterior pituitary through the cervical sympathetic nerves. Collin and Hennequin 4 had found in male adult rabbits that ablation of one of the superior cervical sympathetic ganglia resulted in vasodilation of the pituitary and a rapid loss of acidophiles in 5 hours to 7 days. On the 7th day the pituitary was composed chiefly of chromophobes. Stimulation of the central end of the cervical sympathetic caused an increase in the granules and numbers of acidophiles in one-half to three-quarter hours. That nervous stimulation of the pituitary may occur is indicated by the fact that Friedgood and Pincus 5 found that stimulation of the cervical sympathetic nerves in adult female rabbits resulted in extensive maturation of the ova and in some cases ovulation.
In performing thyroidectomy in young rats the cervical sympathetic fibres could be traumatized inadvertently, as the thyroid is bound laterally closely to the carotid artery region.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.