Increase of S-100 protein-positive stellate cells in the anterior pituitary of chronic alcoholic patients with fatty liver or fatty cirrhosis.

Healthy subjects 40 years old were used as controls in a study of stellate cells (S-100 protein-containing cells, or S-100 cells) in subjects with chronic alcoholism and fatty liver or fatty cirrhosis. S-100 cells were sparsely found in the adenohypophysis of control subjects, and these cells sometimes formed small clusters. However, in chronic alcoholics with fatty liver or fatty cirrhosis, the number of stellate cells in the anterior pituitary tended to be 17 times higher than it was in the control group. No increase in the number of S-100 positive cells that constitute the large and small follicles in the intermediate pituitary. The physiological function of the S-100 protein has not yet been identified. The fact that an increase in prolactin-secreting and growth hormone-secreting cells, as well as a decrease in gonadotrophs were observed in the hypophysis of alcoholics suggests that the function of stellate cells may be closely related to these phenomena. Our results also imply that the stellate cells found in the anterior and intermediate pituitary differ in function although they both produce S-100 proteins.