Immunohistochemical study on the fetal rat pituitary in hyperthermia-induced exencephaly

Hyperthermia of fetal rats is known to cause malformations of various organs including brain. The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of the hyperthermia-induced brain damages on the development of the adenohypophysis. Mother rats of day 9.5 of pregnancy were anesthetized and immersed in hot water (43 degrees C) for 15 min. At day 21.5 of gestation, fetuses were removed by caesarian section and examined for exencephaly. Hyperthermal stress induced varying degrees of exencephaly in 36% of surviving fetal rats. In extreme cases a considerable part of head was lost. Even in those fetuses with severe brain deformities, the hypophysial stalk and neural lobe were present though they were markedly underdeveloped. In exencephalic fetuses, no immunoreactive vasopressin was detected in the neural lobe of the hypophysis. Immunohistochemical examination of the adenohypophysis showed that exencephaly caused a marked decrease in the number of growth hormone (GH)-producing cells. Other types of hormone-producing cells appeared to be unaffected by brain anomaly. The reason for a decreased population of GH cells in exencephalic fetuses is discussed in relation to their adrenocortical hypotrophy.