Effect of bromocriptine, somatostatin, and oestradiol-17 beta on hormone secretion and ultrastructure of human pituitary tumours in vitro.

The effect of bromocriptine and somatostatin on hormone secretion and the ultrastructure of human pituitary adenomas was studied in vitro. Prolactin secretion was inhibited by bromocriptine in 3 out of 10 prolactin-secreting tumours and in explants from 2 normal pituitaries. GH secretion was reduced by bromocriptine in 4 out of 6 GH-secreting adenomas but was not affected by the drug in the incubations of normal pituitaries. Somatostatin inhibited GH secretion in 2 out of 5 pituitary adenomas and the effect was comparable with that of bromocriptine. Incubation of prolactin-secreting adenomas with oestradiol for as long as 24 days produced no change in hormone secretion. Examination of tumour explants by electron microscopy showed that somatostatin and bromocriptine produced accumulation of secretion granules but no changes in the secretory organelles. Long term bromocriptine treatment of "nude" athymic mice bearing xenografts of human pituitary adenomas suppressed hormone secretion and produced some increase in secretion granules but there were no morphological changes in the secretory organelles or other vital structures of the adenoma cells.