Abstract
Summary
Effects of severe stress, immersion in water at 70°C for 5 seconds, were studied on the male albino rat in relation to response of the anterior pituitary. Using 5 different staining methods, no significant changes in percentage of acidophils, basophils or chromophobes were found 1, 3 or 12 hours after stress, although there were marked increases in number of cells per field in the 12 hour post-stress rats. Fresh weight of the pituitary showed no significant change in 1 and 3 hour post-stress animals, but the 12 hour group displayed a marked reduction, which was evident on both an absolute and a relative to body weight basis. Comparison of relative dry weight and amount of fluid lost in drying in unstressed and 12 hour stressed animals revealed that the weight decrease consisted of both fluid loss and reduction in solids.
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