INFLUENCE OF HORMONES ON LYMPHOID TISSUE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION. THE ROLE OF THE PITUITARY ADRENOTROPHIC HORMONE IN THE REGULATION OF THE LYMPHOCYTES AND OTHER CELLULAR ELEMENTS OF THE BLOOD¹

TLDR

Blood cell counts vary widely yet remain within narrow limits, implying regulatory mechanisms that constrain hematopoietic output, and endocrine glands—especially the pituitary adrenotrophic hormone—have been implicated in this regulation. The authors experimentally demonstrate that pituitary adrenotrophic hormone modulates lymphocyte counts.

Abstract

THE WIDE VARIATIONS in the numbers of the blood cells in health and disease have not encouraged investigators to postulate a common regulatory mechanism controlling these elements. Yet the existence of numerical limits between which the blood cells fluctuate in the normal subject is remarkable in view of the proliferative capacity of the blood-forming tissues. It seems likely that mechanisms exist which restrain the degree to which the cellular products of these tissues accumulate. An influence of various endocrine glands on hematopoietic tissues has been suggested by several investigators on the basis of clinical observations. This subject has been reviewed by Drinker and Yoffey (1941). It is the object of this paper to present experimental evidence that the pituitary adrenotrophic hormone is a factor in the regulation of the number of blood lymphocytes. This hormone may also be concerned with the regulation of certain bone marrow elements.