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Introduction Among the pituitary hormones, prolactin (PRL) is the most versatile in the spectrum and number of functions it regulates. PRL modulates virtually every aspect of vertebrate physiology, including osmoregulation, growth, metabolism
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Introduction
Intercellular communication is effected through the release and action of substances known as paracrine agents. Recent studies are providing increasing evidence that pituitary hormone secretion is under the control of paracrine as well as hypothalamic factors. The individual cell types within the rat anterior pituitary gland appear to be arranged in specific groups and juxtapositions, and this precise organization of cells provides an anatomical basis for an intercellular control system in the pituitary gland. There is good circumstantial evidence for a variety of paracrine interactions within the anterior pituitary gland, although the exact physiological functions of different proposed paracrine agents have yet to be fully elucidated. Many substances have been shown to affect the release of each of the pituitary hormones directly, and there is evidence that some of these are synthesized and released within the anterior pituitary and may therefore act as paracrine agents. Established and
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Concentrations of human growth hormone (HGH) in pituitary tumours measured by the tibial line assay (Young, Bahn & Randall, 1965) or assessed visually from electrophoretic patterns of pituitary extracts (Lloyd & Meares, 1965) have been shown to vary from quite low levels to concentrations greater than those present in the normal anterior pituitary gland. In the present study, HGH concentration in four normal anterior pituitary glands, obtained at autopsy, and in six pituitary tumours, resected surgically, has been estimated by radioimmunoassay and by inspection of starch-gel electrophoresis patterns. Histological examination of the tumour tissue was performed on paraffin sections of formalin-fixed specimens after staining with haematoxylin and eosin, eosin and methyl blue, and PAS-orange G. Extracts of pituitary tissue were prepared by homogenization in tris-EDTA-boric acid buffer at pH 8·9. The clear supernatant obtained after centrifugation was subjected to radioimmunoassay and to starch-gel electrophoresis. Radioimmunoassay was performed by the solid-phase
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Pituitary adenomas are a common form of endocrine neoplasia in man, and cause clinical problems resulting from syndromes of hormone hypersecretion, hypofunction of the residual normal pituitary gland, or from mass effects from the tumour bulk itself. They can now be treated by surgery, by irradiation or by endocrine therapies such as dopamine or somatostatin agonists, but none of these options has proved entirely satisfactory. After intense scrutiny of pituitary physiology and biochemistry, only now are some of the causes of pituitary tumour formation becoming understood, and this short review will discuss some recent advances in the field.
Pituitary tumours generally arise from a single differentiated cell type expressing its appropriate mature pituitary hormone product (such as prolactin, growth hormone (GH), adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) or thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and the hormone hypersecretion often leads to a clinically recognized syndrome. About 25% of adenomas are clinically 'non-functioning', but most of these in
Department of Paediatrics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Department of Paediatrics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Department of Paediatrics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Department of Paediatrics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Department of Paediatrics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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composition of the anterior pituitary could be involved in these endocrine changes, as this gland undergoes increased cell death in poorly controlled diabetes mellitus ( Arroba et al. 2003 , 2005 ). Furthermore, this increased cell death is cell
Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
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Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
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Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
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Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
Centre INRA de Tours, CNRS, Université de Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
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pituitary factors. The hypothalamic GnRH is the major regulator of LH and FSH secretion. While the LH secretion is mainly dependent of GnRH and gonadal steroids, additional factors are involved in regulation of FSH production. Particularly, activins and
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laboratory animals and humans ( Shavit 1991 ). Neurointermediate pituitary lobectomy (NIL) or pituitary-stalk compression (PSC) in rats result in a mild but significant basal increase of ACTH and CORT plasma levels ( Fagin et al. 1985 , Makara et al
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reproduction, expanding the physiological repertoire of OCN in male testicular function. Does OCN influence the traditional hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis for its effect on male fertility? Although there is evidence suggesting a direct role for OCN
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Department of Neuroscience, ‘Tor Vergata’ University, Rome, Italy
Istituto Zootecnico Caseario della Sardegna, Bonassai, Sassari, Italy
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Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Department of Neuroscience, ‘Tor Vergata’ University, Rome, Italy
Istituto Zootecnico Caseario della Sardegna, Bonassai, Sassari, Italy
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Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Department of Neuroscience, ‘Tor Vergata’ University, Rome, Italy
Istituto Zootecnico Caseario della Sardegna, Bonassai, Sassari, Italy
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Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Department of Neuroscience, ‘Tor Vergata’ University, Rome, Italy
Istituto Zootecnico Caseario della Sardegna, Bonassai, Sassari, Italy
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Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Department of Neuroscience, ‘Tor Vergata’ University, Rome, Italy
Istituto Zootecnico Caseario della Sardegna, Bonassai, Sassari, Italy
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Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Department of Neuroscience, ‘Tor Vergata’ University, Rome, Italy
Istituto Zootecnico Caseario della Sardegna, Bonassai, Sassari, Italy
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has been shown in vivo ( Possenti et al. 1989 , Trani et al. 1995 , 2002 ), and an endogenous peptide corresponding to the C-terminal 30 amino acid segment of human proVGF has been identified from bovine posterior pituitary (peptide V; Liu et
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& Doughty 1972 ). On the basis of this research, along with the evidence demonstrating susceptibility of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis to neonatal programming ( Schapiro 1965 , Levine & Mullins 1967 , Sapolsky & Meaney 1986 , Shanks et al
