Immunohistochemical Visualizations of Prolactin Growth Hormone and a Substance Resembling Placental Lactogen in the 'in situ' and Ectopic Pituitary in the Hamster

Our plain-English summary of Immunohistochemical Visualizations of Prolactin Growth Hormone and a Substance Resembling Placental Lactogen in the 'in situ' and Ectopic Pituitary in the Hamster, by G.T. Campbell, J.K. Wagoner, K.A. Gregerson, et al (1979).

The study

• Authors: G.T. Campbell, J.K. Wagoner, K.A. Gregerson, W.L. Joyner
• Published: Endocrinology, Volume 105 No4. December 8th 1981 (1979)
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This laboratory study in golden hamsters is about pituitary hormones, not asbestos. The authors transplanted anterior pituitary tissue from newborn hamster pups into the cheek pouch of adult male hamsters, some of which had their own pituitary removed. After 15 days they stained the grafts, normal pituitaries and placental tissue with antisera against rat prolactin, rat growth hormone and human placental lactogen. Cells staining for prolactin were scarce in the grafts compared with the animal's own pituitary. Serum prolactin was not detectable in pituitary-removed hosts with grafts. Cells staining for growth hormone and for the placental lactogen-like material were present in both grafts and normal pituitaries. Placental cells stained only with the placental lactogen antiserum. In pituitary tissue, the staining suggested three possible cell types, most often cells staining with both antisera. The authors concluded that the graft site may influence which cell types are present. They noted that cross-species antisera limit interpretation, that staining alone cannot settle how many cell types exist, and that the short graft period limits conclusions about cell survival.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Animal experiment (pituitary transplantation and immunohistochemical staining in hamsters)
• Who was studied: Golden hamsters: adult male recipients of pituitary grafts (some with the pituitary removed), donor pups less than 24 hours old, and pregnant hamsters for placental tissue; University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Omaha
• Exposure: Transplantation of neonatal anterior pituitary tissue under the cheek pouch membrane for 15 days; tissue stained with antisera against rat prolactin, rat growth hormone and human placental lactogen. No asbestos exposure was studied.
• Main results:
  • Grafts showed very little prolactin staining compared with the in situ pituitary of the same animal; a few graft cells stained only with longer incubation and more concentrated antiserum (1:50)
  • Serum prolactin was not detectable in hypophysectomized hosts with grafts
  • Removing the host's pituitary had no discernible effect on the cell types present in the grafts
  • In hamster placenta, chorionic cells stained with the anti-human placental lactogen antiserum but not with anti-rat growth hormone (1:100) or anti-rat prolactin (1:200)
  • In pituitary tissue, double staining showed three cell types; cells staining with both anti-growth hormone and anti-placental lactogen antisera were the most frequently observed
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that certain hamster pituitary cells contain material immunologically similar to human placental lactogen, of unknown physiological significance, and that the ectopic site of pituitary transplantation may influence the cell types present in the grafts
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Having to use antisera and hormones from other species limits interpretation of the adsorption experiments
  • Staining techniques alone may not resolve whether one, two or three cell types exist
  • Examining grafts only 10-15 days after transplantation prevents firm conclusions about survival of pituitary cell types in the grafts

Browse return to medical research.