1. Effect of hypophysectomy on endocrine cell types in rat gastrointestinal mucosa
- Author
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M. A. Ferra, G. M. Portela-Gomes, J. P.-G. Albuquerque, and Lars Grimelius
- Subjects
Male ,Serotonin ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Histology ,Hypophysectomy ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Enteroendocrine cell ,Biology ,digestive system ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,Internal medicine ,Gastrins ,Intestine, Small ,medicine ,Animals ,Large intestine ,Intestinal Mucosa ,Cecum ,Molecular Biology ,Antrum ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Delta cell ,Gastrointestinal tract ,digestive, oral, and skin physiology ,Cell Biology ,Small intestine ,Rats ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Somatostatin ,Endocrinology ,Gastric Mucosa ,Anatomy ,Research Article ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
The effect of hypophysectomy on the gastrointestinal tract was studied in the rat 8 wk after operation, particularly regarding the frequency and distribution of serotonin, somatostatin and gastrin-immunoreactive cells. Body weight, the length of the intestine and the thickness of the mucosa of the antrum and small intestine were all reduced in the hypophysectomised rats compared with sham-operated and untreated controls. In the hypophysectomised animals the serotonin-immunoreactive cells were fewer in the antrum and caecum, whereas they were more numerous in the proximal large intestine. There were fewer gastrin-immunoreactive cells in the antrum, while the somatostatin-immunoreactive cells were more numerous in the antrum and caecum. The significant influence of hypophysectomy on the gastrointestinal tract could be direct, but could also be associated with the marked effect of pituitary deficiency on endocrine cells, known to exert both trophic and antitrophic actions. However, it could also be an indirect effect on metabolism, resulting in lower food intake, other endocrine cell systems, and growth factors.
- Published
- 1997
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