The Localization of Gonadotrophs in Normal Adult Male and Female Rats*

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Abstract
The localization of LH [luteinizing hormone] and FSH cells within the pituitary glands of normal adult rats. Groups of 4 female rats were decapitated at 1 of 5 different times during the estrous cycle. Four male rats were also decapitated. Paired horizontal flip-flopped serial paraplast sections from the dorsal, middle and ventral portions of each pituitary gland were stained. For each pair, 1 section was stained with antirat LH-S4 and the other section with antirat FSH-S7, by the unlabeled antibody peroxidase-antiperoxidase method. All immunoreactive cells were counted, and the area of pars distalis in each section was determined. The spatial distribution of gonadotrophs within the sections was studied and it was determined if a polarization along the antero-posterior axis existed. In the "sex zone" of the pars distalis, the cross-sectional area of LH cells and the percentages of LH cells that also contained FSH and vice versa were determined and compared with those obtained from the entire pars distalis. Additional sections were stained for TSH, ACTH, GH [growth hormone] or PRL [prolactin], and the distribution of stained cells was compared with that of those that stained for LH or LH/FSH, particularly in the sex zone and in the pars intermedia. Gonadotrophs are more evenly distributed dorsoventrally within the pars distalis of male rats than in that of female rats; an antero-posterior polarity in gonadotropic distribution is more pronounced in male rats than in female rats; gonadotrophs containing only LH are less numerous in male than female rats, and the female tend to be centrally located within the pars distalis; the sex zone contains PRL cells and gonadotrophs, and the percentages of gonadotrophs that contain LH or LH and FSH are not different from those of the entire pars distalis; LH, and occasionally LH/FSH cells, are present between lobules of immunoreactive ACTH cells in the pars intermedia; and LH cells in the pars intermedia are smaller than those in the sex zone or entire pars distalis.

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