O'Steen W K, Kraeer S L
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1977 Oct;16(10):940-6.
Prepubertal removal of the pituitary gland, which in young animals influences sexual maturation, reduces significantly the amount of retinal photoreceptor destruction when the rats are exposed to continuous illumination in adulthood. When crude pituitary gland homogenate is administered to adult rats hypophysectomized prior to puberty, photoreceptor destruction is more severe. Transplantation of whole pituitary glands to the kidney capsule of hypophysectomized rats also reduces the effect of pituitary gland removal and results in more extensive damage to receptor cells than found in hypophysectomized, adult animals. Hypophysectomized rats treated with prolactin had more severe retinal damage than untreated, hypophysectomized rats. The injection of pregnant mare serum and human chorionic gonadotropic hormones into hypophysectomized rats was not effective in reversing the protection afforded by hypophysectomy. Results of these studies indicate the hormones of the pituitary gland have a regulatory influence on the severity of light-induced, retinal photoreceptor damage in the rat.
青春期前切除垂体（垂体在幼龄动物中影响性成熟），会显著减少成年大鼠在持续光照下视网膜光感受器的破坏量。当将粗制垂体匀浆给予青春期前接受垂体切除术的成年大鼠时，光感受器的破坏更为严重。将整个垂体移植到垂体切除大鼠的肾包膜处，也会降低垂体切除的效果，并导致受体细胞的损伤比垂体切除的成年动物更为广泛。用催乳素治疗的垂体切除大鼠比未治疗的垂体切除大鼠有更严重的视网膜损伤。向垂体切除大鼠注射孕马血清和人绒毛膜促性腺激素并不能有效逆转垂体切除所提供的保护作用。这些研究结果表明，垂体激素对大鼠光诱导的视网膜光感受器损伤的严重程度具有调节作用。
