Microcephalic cerebrum with hypomyelination in the growth hormone-deficient mouse (lit).

To determine whether GH has an independent action on cerebral development, we examined the central nervous system of the little mouse (lit), a promising model of isolated growth hormone deficiency. Our findings are (A); the weights of two parts of the lit brain were significantly less than those of the normal controls, 81.5% less for the cerebrum, and 81.6% for the cerebellum, (B): the total DNA content was reduced to approximately 80% in the cerebrum and 84% in the cerebellum compared to those of the normal controls, (C); the total RNA content was also reduced in the cerebrum and cerebellum, proportional to the reduction in DNA, (D); CNPase activity was reduced selectively in the cerebrum of the lit mouse (74.4% of the normal control), and (E); the lit mice exhibited a strikingly reduced level of activity with an indistinct diurnal periodicity. These results indicate that GH has independent actions on cerebral development, especially on glial cell proliferation as a precondition of myelin formation.