Cytologic Evidence of the Gonadotropic Activity of the Rabbit’s Anterior Hypophysis

Observations on the Acidophil Cells of the Adenohypophysis in Pregnant and Lactating Rabbits

“…Friedgood & Dawson (1938) demonstrated two acidophil types in the female rabbit, one staining with carmine and the other with orange G. They noted hyperplasia and increased secretory activity of the carmine cells in the 3 hr following coitus and again late in pregnancy and suggested that these cells produced a gonadotrophic hormone. Dawson (1946) later identified the carmine cell of the cat with the secretion of prolactin.…”

“…Earlier accounts of the acidophil cells of the rabbit hypophysis have been based on material fixed in formal-sublimate and stained by Heidenhain's azan method (Friedgood & Dawson, 1938;Pearse, 1951Pearse, , 1952Gepts, 1954), so it is difficult to equate the cell types described with those found in other species by 319 means of different techniques. Friedgood & Dawson (1938) demonstrated two acidophil types in the female rabbit, one staining with carmine and the other with orange G. They noted hyperplasia and increased secretory activity of the carmine cells in the 3 hr following coitus and again late in pregnancy and suggested that these cells produced a gonadotrophic hormone.…”

Post-Coital Cytological Changes in the Adenohypophysis of the Non-Parous Rabbit

“…The basiphil cells (referred to below as 'mucoid cells') were studied because the available histochemical evidence suggested (Pearse, 1952;Purves, 1961) that these cells were much more likely to be the source of the hormone (LH) principally involved in the post-coital ovarian changes culminating in ovulation than the carminophils, to which this function had previously been assigned by Friedgood & Dawson (1938).…”

Functional Acidophilic Tumours of the Pituitary of the Rat

“…The cytology of the normal gland provides a possible explanation. Two types of acidophils can be easily distinguished in the pituitaries of several species as for instance the rabbit (Friedgood and Dawson, 1938). Here cells with a strong affinity for carmine are found besides others which do not retain this dye.…”