Analysis of mammosomatotropic cells in normal and neoplastic human pituitary tissues by the reverse hemolytic plaque assay and immunocytochemistry

Abstract

The reverse hemolytic plaque assay (RHPA) was used to study hormone release from cultured normal and neoplastic human pituitary cells. The RHPA revealed a lower percentage of GH- and PRL-producing cells in normal and neoplastic pituitaries compared to the percentage of these cells revealed by immunocytochemical (ICC) staining for GH and PRL. Normal pituitary tissues as well as some PRL- or GH-producing adenomas contained large numbers of mammosomatotropic (MS) cells when analyzed by RHPA, combined RHPA-ICC, and ultrastructural immunohistochemistry with immunogold labeling. The percentage of GH and PRL cells in normal pituitaries ranged from 37-51% and 30-60%, respectively, by RHPA, while the percentage of MS cells ranged from 29-49%. The percentage of GH and PRL cells in normal pituitaries estimated by ICC ranged from 53-65% and 32-55%, respectively, while the percentage of MS cells estimated with this technique ranged from 26-50%. Double labeling with the immunogold technique detected GH and PRL in the same cells and within the same granules in both normal and neoplastic pituitary cells. These results indicate that MS cells are present in normal human pituitaries as well as in some pituitary adenomas, and in some pituitaries these two hormones are stored within the same secretory granules.