190 



HYPOPHYSIS AND GONADOTROPHIC HORMONES 



TABLE 3.1 



Differences between Castration and Thyroidectomy Cells in the Rat 



cells was given by Reese, Koneff and Wain- 

 man (1943). The recorded differences be- 

 tween the two types of cells in the rat are 

 summarized in Table 3.1. 



Castration basophils, at first only weakly 

 staining, become more strongly staining in 

 the period from 2 weeks up to 4 months 

 from operation. In long term experiments 

 one of the striking differences between cas- 

 tration cells and thyroidectomy cells is the 

 strong staining by aniline blue of the cyto- 

 plasmic granules of the castration cells 

 whereas the thyroidectomy cells take so 

 little stain that they have been considered 

 by many observers to be chromophobes. 



Zeckwer, Davison, Keller and Livingood 

 (1935) were the first to trace the differences 

 between these types of cells and to infer 

 front them that these cells were the results 

 of similar changes occurring in two distinct 

 kinds of basophil cell. Guyer and Claus 

 (1935; 1937), while observing differences in 



the cells, considered they were exjilicable as 

 being different processes occurring in the 

 same cell type. Severinghaus (1939) did not 

 consider the changes produced by thyroid- 

 ectomy different in any fundamental way 

 from those produced by castration. He was 

 no doubt misled by the fact that a certain 

 number of "signet-ring" cells are always 

 present (Wolfe, 1941, 1943) and arc there- 

 fore found in small numl)ers among the thy- 

 roidectomy cells in thyroidectomized ani- 

 mals. 



The next important clue was pr()\i(l('(l by 

 Reese, Koneff and Wainman ( 1943 ) who ob- 

 sel•^•ed that two classes of basophil cells are 

 normally present in rat hyi)ophyses, one 

 oval or round in section (Figs. 3.13 and 

 3.14), the other polygonal and angular (Fig. 

 3.15). They noted that in the early response 

 to thyroidectomy there is an increase in the 

 iiiiiiibci' of cells which are irregular or i)oly- 

 h('(hal, whereas aftei- castration the in- 



