[Growth hormone, prolactin, LH and FSH secretion in tissue culture of pituitary adenomas (author's transl)].

We have performed tissue culture of pituitary adenomas (5 acromegalies, 7 non-acromegalies) and measured GH, PRL, LH and FSH in the media of tissue culture by radioimmunoassay (RIA) for 30-40 days. In addition, GH, PRL, LH and FSH were measured in the plasma and tumor tissue by RIA. GH concentration in the culture media was markedly high in all cases with acromegaly and high also in 2 out of 7 non-acromegaly cases (case 6 and 7). GH concentration in the media rapidly decreased almost as a straight line on a semilogarithmic scale until the 30-40 in day, when GH level became less than 10 ng/ml. PRL concentration in the culture media was high in 5 patients (3 acromegalies, 2 non-acromegalies). PRL concentration regressed more slowly than GH, but still remained higher than 10 ng/ml in all of the patients on the 25-40th day when the studies were discontinued. LH and FSH concentrations in the culture media was high in two patients. One patient was a pituitary adenoma secreting LH and FSH, and another case was a false high secreting one, possibly contaminated with gonadotropin in normal pituitary gland at surgical operation. LH and FSH concentrations rapidly decreased as that of GH. A rare case of primary LH and FSH secreting pituitary adenoma was demonstrated.