Effects of estrogen on pituitary morphology in goitrogen treated rats. An electron microscopic study

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Abstract
The influence on pituitary cytology of propylthiouracil (PTU) and estradiol benzoate (EB) administered singly and in combination was studied by electron microscopy in adult female rats. PTU alone induced striking changes in the morphology of thyrotroph cells, which were all transformed into typical thyroidectomy cells, characterized by enormously dilated ergastoplasmic sacs; the acidophils were degranulated and some of them took the appearance of relatively quiescent prolactin cells rather than degranulated somatotrophs. EB alone caused no definite changes in the morphology of thyrotroph cells; its essential effect was the development of a large number of prolactin cells. When both treatments were combined, thyroidectomy cells were found, existing side by side with untransformed thyrotrophs and exhibiting less dilated ergastoplasmic sacs than after PTU alone; prolactin cells were present in great number and showed a more developed ergastoplasm than after EB alone. Thyroid weight and height of the follicular cells were not changed by EB given singly; they were both increased under the influence of PTU; thyroid weight but not mean height of the follicular cells was slightly less increased when EB was added to PTU. It is tentatively concluded that estrogen may have a dual action on the thyro‐pituitary axis: on one hand, a depressing influence on thyrotroph cells and on the other hand a direct stimulatory effect on the thyroid gland.