SULFATION FACTOR ACTIVITY OF SERA FROM PATIENTS WITH PITUITARY DISORDERS*

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Abstract
Previous work from this laboratory established the fact that normal human and rat serum contains a factor which stimulates the in vitro incorporation of sulfate-S35 into cartilage from hypophysectomized rats. This activity of serum which appears to be due to a protein or protein-bound component is not attributable to the presence of unaltered growth hormone. An assay for sulfation factor in human serum is described in this paper. The serum from normal subjects was found to contain from 0.5 to 1.5 times the activity of a standard reference serum in nearly all cases. No significant change in sulfation factor activity with age could be demonstrated. Decreased sulfation factor activity was present in the sera of patients with spontaneous hypopituitarism or panhypopituitarism following hypophysectomy. The sulfation factor activity was increased in the serum of 5 patients with acromegaly early in the course of the disease but later, when the disease was inactive, the concentration of sulfation factor was generally normal. It is concluded that the measurement of serum sulfation factor activity provides an index of pituitary activity in respect to growth, permitting a more accurate evaluation of endocrine-induced disturbances of growth.