The effects of hypophysectomy upon DNA synthesis in rat oral epithelium.

Ten hypophysectomized and 10 normal female albino rats, 50-days-old, were kept for 5 days and treated with tritiated thymidine 1 hour before sacrifice of the animals. The animals were weighed and the histomorphology of the palate epithelium was studied including the thickness, cell density, and DNA labeling index. The hypophysectomized rats failed to gain weight after 5 days. The palatal epithelium showed a normal morphology indicating the hypophysectomy allowed for differentiation of squamous epithelium. There was a significant reduction in the thickness of the epithelium and a reduced cell density. This was attributed to a significant decrease in DNA synthesis. The epithelial cells were lost from the surface without adequate replacement due to an expected depression in mitotic activity. DNA synthesis may be depressed due to reduced ATP synthesis resulting from suboptimal glucose metabolism and depression in protein synthesis.