Immunohistochemical identification of cells in the pars distalis of the pituitary of the lizard anolis carolinensis

Abstract

Immunocharacteristics of the pars distalis cells of the pituitary of the male lizard A. carolinensis are determined by employing the immunoperoxidase technique with antisera to mammalian pituitary hormones. On the basis of their immunoreactivity, 5 different cell types with characteristic anatomical distribution are recognized. ACTH cells are found in the rostral half of the pars distalis, and PRL cells in the rostral two thirds of the pars distalis. GH and TSH cells are located in the caudal half of the pars distalis. GTH cells are distributed throughout the gland. When consecutive sections are stained with antiserum to ovine FSH or its beta-subunit and to ovine LH, the same cells show immunoreactivity to all the three antisera. None of the GTH cells show positive immunoreactivity to ovine beta-LH antiserum. The results suggest the existence of one gonadotropic cell type in the pituitary of this lizard.

An immunohistochemical study of hypophysis inAnguis fragilis(Reptilia, Anguidae)

“…STH cells have a globular shape with a peripheral nucleus as in C. chalcides (Ferrandino et al, 2001) and unlike P. mucosus (Mohanty & Naik, 1997) and other reptiles (Saint Girons, 1970) where their morphology is variable. As in the case of STH cells, the presence and distribution of PRL cells is completely similar with results on other reptiles (Naik et al, 1980;Mikami et al, 1985;Mohanty & Naik, 1997;Ferrandino et al, 2001;Viscardi et al, 2002). These cells are acidophilic and PAS-negative, as has also been reported in the lizard, Podarcis muralis, and the turtle, Emys leprosa (Doerr-Schott, 1976); conversely, in the snake P. mucosus (Mohanty & Naik, 1997) they are weakly PASpositive.…”

“…Their morphology is similar to that in other reptilia (Mohanty & Naik, 1997;Ferrandino et al, 2001). GTH cells, identified by the anti-hLH and anti-hFSH antisera revealing all the gonadotropic cells, are distributed throughout the PD as was also observed in the lizards Anolis carolinensis (Naik et al, 1980), P. sicula campestris (Desantis et al, 1998) and L. bilineata (Viscardi et al, 2002), in the snake P. mucosus (Mohanty & Naik, 1997) and in the skink C. chalcides (Ferrandino et al, 2001); instead in" the tortoise C. reevesii (Mikami et al, 1985), they were found only in the CPD and the PT. On serial sections, some FSH cells are also immunoreactive to anti-human LH antiserum, though also in the A. fragilis hypophysis two distinct gonadotropic cellular types are evident with FSH or LH hormones, as in P. s. campestris (Desantis et al, 1998).…”

“…Immunohistochemical identification of STH cells shows that this cellular type is present only in the CPD and corresponds to the acidophilic and PAS-negative cells, as found in other reptiles (Doerr-Schott, 1976;Licht & Pearson, 1978;Naik et al, 1980;Mikami et al, 1985;Mohanty & Naik, 1997). STH cells have a globular shape with a peripheral nucleus as in C. chalcides (Ferrandino et al, 2001) and unlike P. mucosus (Mohanty & Naik, 1997) and other reptiles (Saint Girons, 1970) where their morphology is variable.…”

“…However, the hypophysis morphology has been studied in a number of reptilian species using a variety of conventional staining methods (Delia Corte & Angelini, 1967;Eyeson, 1970;Saint Girons, 1970;Licht & Pearson, 1978). More recently, the application of immunohistochemical techniques has facilitated the identification of the adenohypophyseal cells in some reptiles, such as lizards (Doerr-Schott, 1976;Naik et al, 1980;Mikami et al, 1985;Desantis et al, 1998Desantis et al, , 2000Viscardi et al, 2002), turtles (Guedenet et al, 1975;Doerr-Schott, 1976;Pearson & Licht, 1982), snakes (Nonnotte-Ferray & Toubeau, 1977;Uva & Vallarino, 1985;Mohanty & Naik, 1997) and in a skink (Ferrandino et al, 2001), as well as in other vertebrates (e.g., Moriarty, 1976;Moriceau-Hay et al, 1982;Pinelli et al, 1996). In order to increase current knowledge on the reptilian hypophysis, we studied its general morphology and the occurrence and distribution of the adenohypophyseal cells in the reptile Anguis fragilis, well-known under the name of slowworm.…”

Immunohistochemical Evidence That Follicle-Stimulating Hormone and Luteinizing Hormone Reside in Separate Cells in the Chicken Pituitary1

“…The cellular localization of gonadotropins has been determined by immunohistochemical (IHC) techniques in a variety of species [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]; except in cattle [3], the majority of gonadotrophs in each species contain both LH and FSH. However, the cellular localization of LH and FSH in birds is enigmatic.…”