Acta Stereologica

0351-580X

 

since 05 December 2013 :
View(s): 486 (5 ULiège)
Download(s): 120 (1 ULiège)
print        
Peter Schmidt, Ingrid Haider, Serge Weis, Gottfried Brem & Erwin Dahme

Morphometry of the pituitary gland of growth hormone-transgenic mice

(Volume 13 (1994) — Number 1 - Proceedings of the sixth European congress for stereology - Part two - May 1994)
Article
Open Access

Attached document(s)

Annexes

Abstract

The pituitary glands of 30 transgenic mice (TM) expressing the bovine growth hormone (bGH) gene under the transcriptional control of the rat phosphoenol-pyruvate-carboxy-kinase promoter (PEPCK) as well as of 30 controls were investigated with stereological methods. The volume of the total pituitary, the adenohypophysis, and the neurohypophysis were estimated in paraffin sections using Cavalieri’s principle. The numerical density of the growth hormone- (GH), prolactin- (PRL) and somatomammotropic (SOMA) cells as well as the size of the GH-cells were investigated on immunohistochemically stained sections. The volume fraction of all cell types was estimated using the point counting method. Mean volume, numerical density, and total number of the immunostained cells were measured by model-based stereological techniques following the method of Weibel and Gomez (1962). In comparing TM with age- and sex-matched controls, significant changes were detected: Both the weight and the volume of the pituitary glands were increased in female TM, whereas they were decreased in male TM. No differences were noted in the volume of the intermediate lobe or of the neurohypophysis. The volume fraction of GH- and SOMA-cells was reduced, both in male and in female TM, whereas the volume fraction of the PRL-cells was reduced in male TM and increased in female TM. The decrease of GH-immunopositive cells in TM was due both to a reduction in the number and in the size of somatotropic cells in GH-TM. These morphological data support the negative feedback mechanism caused by the protracted oversecretion of GH in various organs.

Keywords : acidophilic cells, growth hormone, morphometry, pituitary gland, transgenic mice

To cite this article

Peter Schmidt, Ingrid Haider, Serge Weis, Gottfried Brem & Erwin Dahme, «Morphometry of the pituitary gland of growth hormone-transgenic mice», Acta Stereologica [En ligne], Volume 13 (1994), Number 1 - Proceedings of the sixth European congress for stereology - Part two - May 1994, 15-20 URL : https://popups.uliege.be/0351-580x/index.php?id=923.

About: Peter Schmidt

Institute of General Pathology and Neuropathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Veterinärstraβe 13, D-80539 Munich, Germany

About: Ingrid Haider

Institute of General Pathology and Neuropathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Veterinärstraβe 13, D-80539 Munich, Germany

About: Serge Weis

lnstitute of Neuropathology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Thalkirchnerstraβe 36, D-80337 Munich, Germany

About: Gottfried Brem

Institute of Molecular Animal Breeding, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Veterinärstraβe 13, D-80539 Munich, Germany

About: Erwin Dahme

Institute of General Pathology and Neuropathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Veterinärstraβe 13, D-80539 Munich, Germany