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Electron Microscope Studies of Somatotrophs of Rat Pituitary After Injection of Purified Growth Hormone Releasing Factor (GRF)
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1969
Year
Human GrowthComparative EndocrinologyMammalian PhysiologyFemale Reproductive FunctionReproductive BiologyGrf InjectionRat PituitaryEmbryologyReproductive EndocrinologyPituitary GlandPituitary DiseasePublic HealthAnimal PhysiologyXenotransplantationPig GrfGrowth HormoneNervous SystemEndocrinologyIntracarotid InjectionDevelopmental BiologyElectron Microscope StudiesPhysiologyMedicineEndocrine Research
Electron microscope studies of pituitary somatotrophs of female Sprague-Dawley rats were conducted following intracarotid injection of 2 μg of highly purified pig GRF. Animals were sacrificed by decapitation 0.5, 1, 2.5, 5 and 15 min after GRF injection. Saline-injected control animals were sacrificed according to the same schedule. Tissues were fixed in phosphate-buffered osmium tetroxide. A marked increase in the number of secretory granules undergoing extrusion into the perivascular space from the somatotroph, as compared to controls, was found to occur as early as 2.5 min after GRF injection. In mammotrophs, the number of granules undergoing extrusion also seemed somewhat larger in the GRF-injected groups. These observations corroborate the accepted morphologic identification of the somatotrophs and provide evidence that GRF acts on these cells. (Endocrinology85: 1084, 1969)