Patterns of corticotropic cells in the adult human pituitary in Cushing's disease.

The overall anatomical distribution of specifically stained corticotropic cells has been studied in pituitaries obtained at autopsy from 9 patients with Cushing's disease. Three patterns have been demonstrated consistent with the theory that it is not a single entity, but that some cases are of primary pituitary aetiology, whereas others are the result of hypothalamic or central nervous system dysfunction. The junctional corticotropic cells appear to react differently from those in the anterior pituitary to some stimuli, supporting the hypothesis that these cells may represent the remnants of the pars intermedia in the human adult, and suggesting that they may have some as yet unidentified physiological function.