Ultra structure differentiation of the anterior pituitary cells of the adult female non pregnant carnivore Vulpes zerda

Abstract

The pituitary gland of carnivore mammals in the world was described, but that of those in Egypt may be low, so the present study is carried out on some carnivore mammals such as Vulpes zerda, to elucidate the similarities and the differences of the pituitary cells between the mammals in the world and those in Egypt. The results indicate that, the gland is pyramidal in shape. The acidophilic cells and the basophilic cells are distributed heterogeneously in the body of the gland. The STH cells are numerous, the nucleus is irregular, lobed and eccentric with the endoplasmic reticulum. The secretory granules are light with a large size. The LTH cells have eccentric nucleus near the plasma membrane, the mitochondrium is spherical or elongated, the endoplasmic reticulum is rough and the granules are collected at the cell periphery.

The ACTH cells are found singly, irregular with eccentric nucleus. Its secretory granules are small and spherical shaped, while the TSH cells have very small secretory granules, but the FSH and LH cells are found singly, angular shape with eccentric nuclei and the its secretary granules are spherical or ovoid shaped and exhibit variation in electron density than STH cells. The differences in shape and distribution may be related to the phylogeny.