Anti-hypothalamus and anti-pituitary antibodies may contribute to perpetuate the hypopituitarism in patients with Sheehan's syndrome

Abstract

Patients with SS, even many years after the onset of SS, can show antibodies to pituitary and/or hypothalamic but not AVP-secreting cells. Antibodies to unknown hypothalamic cells (releasing factor-secreting cells) other than APAs suggest that an autoimmune process involving both the hypothalamus and pituitary gland may contribute to late pituitary dysfunction in SS patients.