Histological study of the anterior pituitary after withdrawal of methylthiouracil administration in mice.

Recently, basophiles, especially beta cells, of the anterior pituitary have been generally accepted as being the site of TSH production (Zeck wer, '38a, b; Griesbach, '41; Griesbach and Purves, '45; Purves and Griesb .ach, '46a, 51a, b; Salter, '50; Halmi, '51 , '52a,b; Halmi and Bogdanove, '51 ; Hal m i and G u d e , '54), although some authors are inclined to believe the acidophiles to be TSH-producer (S ever i n g h a u s , Smelser and Clark, '34a,b; Severinghaus , '37; Shigemori, '43; Adams, '46). In our laboratory, M a s e ('60) observed an increase in number and size of beta cells with hyaline vacuoles in methylthiouracil administered mature mouse pituitary gland , and suggested that so-called thyroidectomy cells are derived from beta cells . U w adok o ('60) reported the occurrence of large-sized cells which were thought to be derived from beta cells and to represent one of their functional phases in methylthiouracil injected immature mouse pituitary. In the present study, the authors observed the histological changes occurring in immature mouse anterior pituitary after withdrawal of methylthiouracil administration in order to search to TSH-producer.