Morphological and functional characterization of cell cultures from adult human adenohypophyses.

Parallel primary cultures have been prepared from dispersed cells of adult human pituitary anterior lobes and can be used as a model system for cell-biological studies. The cultured cells were able to secrete all the known hormones of the adenohypophysis. Bromocriptine administration markedly reduced prolactin release into the medium while slightly enhanced growth hormone release. The adequate response of somatotrophs to GRF and SRIF could not be demonstrated.