THE THYROID-STIMULATING HORMONE CONTENT OF THE HUMAN HYPOPHYSIS: A PRELIMINARY REPORT*†

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Abstract
The thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) content was measured in 203 pituitary glands—198 obtained at autopsy and 5 obtained at operation. In 6 pools composed of 154 glands (total), the mean TSH content ranged from 46 to 155 u.s.p. milliunits (m.u.) per gland. In 44 individually assayed hypophyses obtained at autopsy, the mean TSH content was 114±15.9 m.u., with a range of 10 to 477 m.u. In 5 individually assayed glands removed at operation, the TSH content ranged from 220 to 1100 m.u. In 11 patients less than 51 years old, the mean TSH content of the pituitary was 210 m.u., whereas in the patients more than 51 years old the mean TSH value was 82 m.u. In 13 patients with jaundice of more than four days' duration, the TSH content of the pituitary was 74 m.u.; in the 15 most cachectic and chronically ill patients it was 55 m.u. (below average); in 7 who died acutely it was 196 m.u. In 2 patients receiving prednisone, the pituitary TSH values were the lowest observed in the series. In 9 patients with thyroid nodules the TSH content of the pituitary was low (38.2 m.u.), and in 4 with thyroid atrophy it was high (172 m.u.). In a single untreated thyrotoxic patient, the TSH content of the pituitary was the highest of any (1100 m.u.), suggesting that in this case the thyrotoxicosis may have resulted from pituitary hyperfunction. There was no apparent correlation between the TSH content of the pituitary and any of the following: body weight, length of time before death and autopsy, the hour of the day when death occurred, adrenal histologic picture, and such conditions as cirrhosis without jaundice, uremia, fever, and altered electrolyte levels.