Characterization of estrogen-induced adenohypophyseal tumors in the Fischer 344 rat.

Pituitary tumors were induced in F344 female rats by chronic treatment with diethylstilbestrol (DES, 8-10 mg) implanted subcutaneously in silastic capsules. Over a range of 1-150 days of DES treatment, pairs of control and DES-treated rats were sacrificed, and their pituitaries dissociated enzymatically into single-cell preparations. The cell populations were examined regarding total cell recovery correlated with gland weight, intracellular prolactin (PRL) content and subsequent release in primary culture, immunocytochemical PRL staining, density and/or size alterations via separation on Ficoll-Hypaque and by unit gravity sedimentation, and cell cycle analysis, after acriflavine DNA staining, by laser flow cytometry. Total cell yields from DES-treated pituitaries increased from 1.3 times control yields at 8 days of treatment to 58.9 times control values by day 150. Intracellular PRL content ranged from 1.9 to 9.4 times control levels, and PRL release in vitro was significantly and consistently higher than controls, after at least 8 days of DES exposure. Beyond 8 days of DES exposure, the immunochemically PRL-positive proportion of cells increased to over 50% of the total population. Increased density and/or size and PRL content were indicated for the majority of the PRL cell population in both types of separation protocols. All these effects of DES were more pronounced among previously ovariectomized animals. The data extend the findings of other investigators, further establishing the DES-induced tumor as a model for study of PRL cellular control mechanisms.