Histological Studies of the Anterior Pituitary of the Turtle, Clemmys japortica

The anterior pituitary of the turtle, Clemtnys japonica is mainly composed of a network of anastomosing and branching cell cords and between these cell cords there are distributed complicated anastomosing capillary nets with little connective tissue.<BR>Two types of acidophile cells were found; orang e ophile cells and carminophile cells. The former were observed in the dorsal region of the anterior lobe adjacent to the intermediate lobe, and fully contained coarse carminophilic granules in the cytoplasm. The latter is located in the peripheral region of the anterior lobe and possessed fine orangeophilic granules in variable numbers. Basophi le cells were mainly distributed in the central area of the anterior lobe.Although two varieties of basophiles (sky blue cells and lavender cells) were observed, it is at present obscure whether s ky blue basophiles and lavender basophiles represent differentiated cell types or different functional stages of a single cell type. Both of these showed a positive reaction with PAS reagent and aldehyde-fuchsin. Basophiles with hyaline vacuoles in the cytoplasm were frequently encountered.<BR>A hitherto undescribed cell was found. The authors named it “amphophile droplet” cell. These cells contained large, droplet-like, acidophilic (carmin red) and basophilic (sky blue) granules in the cytoplasm. These cells were distributed throughout the anterior lobe. Occurrence of amphophile droplet cells varied considerably from individual to individual. These cells were abundantly found in female pituitaries, while in males they were found in small numbers or not all.<BR>Many follicular structures were observed throughout the anteriorlobe. Each follicle was composed of orangeophile, carminophile and amphophile droplet cells. These cells were arranged in a circle and built up the follicular wall. There were observed a colloidal substance and large acidophilic drops in the follicular cavity. The basement membrane which surrounds completely each follicle was not found and no terminal bar was observed.