PITUITARY CELLULAR HYPERSENSITIVITY IN IDIOPATHIC HYPOPITUITARISM

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Abstract
Lymphocyte transformation in response to a saline extract of human pituitary was used to evaluate anti-pituitary immunity in patients with idiopathic hypopituitarism. Nine normal subjects and 3 children with idiopathic hypopituitarism were studied. Lymphocytes of 1 patient were significantly reactive to pituitary extract (beyond the 95% tolerance limits of the normal subjects) at 5 and 11 mo. after the diagnosis of hypopituitarism. The anti-pituitary hypersensitivity appeared organ-specific since there was no lymphocyte reactivity to human thyroid extract in this patient. The presence of alopecia universalis, dystrophic nails and a primary immunodeficiency state suggests an autoimmune basis of his hypopituitary state. Due to hypogammaglobulinemia and the lack of pituitary cell antibodies in this child, a humoral role in the development of his hypopituitarism is not supported.