ESTIMATION OF GROWTH HORMONE CONTENT IN A SINGLE HUMAN PITUITARY

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Abstract
Growth hormone was purified from single human pituitaries by means of the chromatographic procedure previously used for pooled pituitaries, and the hormonal content of the single glands was estimated by zone electrophoresis on starch and by biologic assay in hypophysectomized rats. The amount of growth hormone in a single human pituitary was between 2.7 and 5.6 mg. When the same procedure was used on single pituitaries from cattle and sheep and on groups of 10 monkey pituitaries, the amounts were found to be comparable. There was more variation from gland to gland among the human pituitaries than among glands from any other species, indicating that certain variable physiologic factors that are involved in the case of the human patients from whom the glands were obtained may have to be taken into consideration in future studies of this sort. The results of this study demonstrate that enough hormone can be recovered from a single gland for qualitative and quantitative studies.