Comparison of ACTH Secretion in Cushing's Adenoma and Clinically Silent Corticotroph Adenoma by Cell Immunoblot Assay

Endocrine Journal

SHINICHI SUZUKI²  YASUHIRO KOJIMA²  ISAO YAMAMOTO²  KOJI YAMAMURA²  GENICHIRO OHHASHI¹ 

[1] Department of Neurosurgery, Jikei University School of Medicine;Department of Neurosurgery, Yokohama City University School of Medicine

关键词: Cushing's disease;    Silent corticotroph adenoma;    Cell immunoblot assay;   

DOI  :  10.1507/endocrj.49.285

学科分类：内分泌与代谢学

来源: Japan Endocrine Society

【 摘 要 】

References(18)Cited-By(13)Immunocytochemical staining and cell immunoblot assay (CIBA) were performed in adenoma tissue from five patients with Cushing's disease and three patients with clinically silent corticotroph adenomas. All five patients with Cushing's disease showed hypersecretion of ACTH (130, 190, 331, 120, and 130 pg/ml), high levels of serum cortisol (26.6-44.0 μg/dl), and symptoms of Cushing's disease. All three patients with silent corticotroph adenoma showed hypersecretion of ACTH (110, 140, and 160 pg/ml) and normal levels of serum cortisol (11.4-26.8 μg/dl). The size of the pituitary adenoma on magnetic resonance imaging was smaller in patients with Cushing's disease (mean 8.2 mm) than in patients with silent corticotroph adenoma (mean 26.7 mm) (p=0.001). Transsphenoidal surgery was performed to totally resect the adenoma tissue. Immunostaining for ACTH showed diffuse ACTH-immunopositive cells in all eight adenomas. CIBA technique showed a good correlation between percentage of ACTH-immunopositive cells and level of plasma ACTH in patients with Cushing's disease but no correlation between the two parameters in patients with silent corticotroph adenoma. The percentage of ACTH-secreting cells and the amount of hormone secreted by a single cell are too low in silent corticotroph adenomas to cause an increase in plasma ACTH level corresponding to the large tumor size.

【 授权许可】

Unknown