The Secretion of Immuno-Reactive Luteinizing Hormone and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone by the Human Foetal Pituitary in Organ Culture

SUMMARY Foetal human pituitaries of 8–18 weeks gestational age were maintained in tissue culture for up to 6 days. No morphological change was observed in the tissue during this period. Radioactive glucosamine was continuously incorporated into medium protein and the levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and growth hormone in the medium increased with the duration of the culture. Theophylline stimulated the release of both LH and FSH consistently over the 6 days, and the total amount of each hormone released over this period was significantly greater than that in unstimulated control cultures. Cyclic adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate stimulated FSH release to some extent but had no significant effect on LH release.