Hormone production by human pituitary adenomas in culture

The pattern of hormone secretion of human pituitary adenomas in culture has been compared with hormone production by cultures of normal human pituitaries. Normal pituitaries and pituitary adenomas were placed in primary explant culture and dispersed cell subcultures and maintained for periods up to one year. Five normal pituitaries initially produced large amounts of immuno-reactive growth hormone (GH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and thyrotropin (TSH), but production of these hormones fell rapidly and was undetectable after 125 days in vitro. In contrast, cultures of adenomas from four acromegalic patients produced GH for up to one year. Cultures of adenoma tissue from five patients with hypopituitarism produced LH and/or TSH.