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On the Relation between Thyroid Depression and Pituitary Tumor Induction in Mice^*

( Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Children's Cancer Research Foundation, Boston, Mass.; and the Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.)

1. Histological observations have been made on the pituitary glands and thyroid regions of C57BL mice at various periods of time following (a) nearcomplete thyroidectomy by surgical means, (b) near-complete surgical thyroidectomy and subsequent grafting of pieces of dependent thyrotrophic pituitary tumor, and (c) injection of I¹³¹ in doses of 25, 50, 100, and 200 µc. Thyroid glands from senile LAF1, RF, and C57BL mice have been examined.

2. Evidence has been presented in support of the view that radiation is not an essential factor in the development of pituitary tumors.

3. Near-complete surgical thyroidectomy has been shown to be as effective as radiological depression of the thyroid in conditioning hosts for bearing grafts of dependent pituitary tumors.

4. Pituitary tumors have been found to develop following doses of 50 µc. of I¹³¹ in male mice and 25 µc. of I¹³¹ in female mice, both maintained on normal laboratory diet.

5. Thyroid remnants in surgically thyroidectomized mice of both sexes and in male mice which had received 50 and 100 µc. of I¹³¹ were seen to have undergone adenomatoid hyperplasia.

6. Senility changes have been observed in the thyroids of 2-year-old C57BL mice but have been found to be extremely rare in 2- to 3-year-old mice of LAF1 and RF strains.

^* Work at Oak Ridge performed under Atomic Energy Commission Contract No. W-7405-eng-26.

Received 9/ 8/54.