Open AccessStructural Changes in Human Pituitary Tumor after Bromocriptine Therapy
Author(s) -
Setti S. Rengachary,
Tatsuo Tomita,
Barry F. Jefferies,
Itaru Watanabe
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
neurosurgery/neurosurgery online
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.485
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1081-1281
pISSN - 0148-396X
DOI - 10.1227/00006123-198202000-00012
Subject(s) - bromocriptine , medicine , prolactin , pathology , golgi apparatus , endoplasmic reticulum , pituitary tumors , hormone , endocrinology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
The histological appearance of a prolactin-producing tumor and of a growth hormone-producing tumor after short term bromocriptine therapy was studied in detail using light microscopy with conventional and immunocytochemical methods and using transmission electron microscopy. The findings were correlated with clinical, radiological, and biochemical data. Histological changes consisting of clumping of nuclear chromatin and a marked reduction in cytoplasmic volume due to loss of ribosomes, rough endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi complexes were observed only in the prolactin-producing tumor. Normalization of elevated serum prolactin levels and reduction in size of the tumor observed in serial computed tomograms correlated with striking histological changes found in the tumor. These changes were interpreted to represent a reversible inhibition of the protein-synthetic machinery of the neoplastic cell. Comparable clinical, biochemical, radiological, or structural changes were not observed in the growth hormone-secreting tumor.