45° 



INANITION AND MALNUTRITION 



Weight of the Hypophysis in Atrophic Infants (Mattei '14) 



Age 



Sex 



Body weight, 

 grams 



Hypophysis 

 weight, grams 



16 days 



22 days 



18 days 



30 days 



1 1 days 



45 days 



3 months (?) 

 37 days 



m. 

 f. 

 f. 



2,260 

 2,300 

 2,890 



2,400(?) 



2,200 



2,740 

 2,500 (?) 

 3,100 



0.06 

 0.06 

 0.09 

 0.09 

 o. 10 

 o. 10 

 o. 10 



0.18 



In all except the last case of Mattei, the weight of the hypophysis is markedly 

 below the normal (0.13 g.) for the newborn. The actual degree of atrophy 

 of the hypophysis is uncertain, however, since the final body weights are like- 

 wise below the normal birthweight, and the previous body weights are unknown. 

 Mattei concluded that the weights of these hypophyses are normal (for cor- 

 responding body weight). 



Mattei also described in detail the histology of the anterior, intermediate 

 and posterior lobes of the hypophysis, but it is not clear as to just what fea- 

 tures represent departures from the normal. In the anterior lobe, colloid was 

 usually abundant. In 12 out of 15 cases, the cells were nearly all of the chro- 

 mophile type, which was interpreted as indicating hyperactivity of the glandular 

 secretion. 



In Table 3 are included some original individual weights of the hypophysis 

 from necropsies of atrophic Minnesota infants. It will be observed that the 

 weights are all considerably below the normal for the hypophysis at birth 

 (0.13 g.), even in infants whose final weight was above 3,200 g. It therefore 

 appears that the hypophysis undergoes a marked loss in weight during inanition. 



Among the animals, the effects of inanition upon the hypophysis were 

 studied by Guerrini ('04). He found in the hypophysis (anterior lobe) of 4 

 dogs, 4 rabbits and 4 pigeons, during the first third of the acute inanition 

 period, a slight increase of secretory activity in the cells, as indicated by a more 

 intense reaction to Galeotti's stain. In the remaining period of acute inanition, 

 however, he found a progressive decrease in staining capacity (granules and 

 plasmosomes) with vacuolization of the cytoplasm. The final appearances 

 are described as follows: 



"Negli animali morti di fame, uso l'espressione nel senso il phi lato, le 

 cellule sono tutte, o presso che tutte, ridotte come in vesicole, quali piu e quali 

 meno gonfie, con nucleo, anch'esso, un po' vuoto e rigonfio e il protoplasma 

 ridotto ad un velo, interrotto qua e la di qualche vacuolo e con appena una 

 traccia di granuli o di plasmosomi." 



In several dogs and rabbits (both young and adult) subjected to chronic 

 inanition, however, Guerrini found no apparent change in the secretion (specific 



