Abstract
Summary
1. Adrenalectomy produced no significant change in weight of rat's pituitary gland. Cytologically, beta basophils decreased in number progressively while acidophils were not altered in number or appearance. The relative per cent of delta basophils was unaffected, but these cells were hypertrophied and exhibited some vacuolation 56 and 100 days after adrenalectomy. The silver-staining capacity of delta basophils, as revealed with protargol, was markedly reduced. 2. Gonadotropic and thyrotropic hormone contents of pituitary were decreased after adrenalectomy, while the corticotropin content was elevated 2- to 3-fold. No difference in growth hormone content was found when whole pituitaries were analyzed by the epiphyseal plate test. 3. Correlations between pituitary cytology and hormone content of the gland suggest that the delta basophil is the source of corticotropin.
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