[Immunohistochemical study of folliculo-stellate cells in human adenohypophysis and in pituitary adenomas].

Significance of the appearance of folliculo-stellate cells (FSC) was studied in 59 human adenohypophyses and 58 pituitary adenomas after being stained with anti-S100 protein and 6 anti-pituitary hormone antibodies. S100 protein positive cells, stellate in shape with expending cytoplasmic processes among endocrine cells (EC) appeared in all the human adenohypophyses and had a tendency to be clustered in small groups characterized by gathering of 3 to 5 cells in the alveoli. Age or sex difference seemed to have no influence on the distributive density of FSC. FSC in the pituitary adenomas may be derived from two origins. One was the residue of normal pituitary tissue left in adenomas, and the other one seemed to be the chief component of the tumor, known as folliculo-stellate cell adenoma.