Department of Experimental Endocrinology, Institute of Endocrinology, Medical Academy of Łódź, Dr. Sterling str. 3, 91-425 Łódź, Poland
(Received 31 May 1977)
The secretory function of the intermediate lobe of the pituitary gland is under hypothalamic control (Howe, 1973; Hadley & Bagnara, 1975). Penny, Thody, Tilders & Smelik (1977) have suggested that the synthesis and release of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) is mediated by dopaminergic neurones which make synaptic contact with secretory cells in the pars intermedia (Björklund, Moore, Nobin & Stenevi, 1973). We have attempted to examine whether the dopaminergic mechanism is also involved in the control of the mitotic activity of the pars intermedia cells and have studied the effects of pimozide, a dopamine receptor blocker (Anden, Butcher, Corrodi, Fuxe & Ungerstedt, 1970) and 2-bromo-α-ergocriptine (bromo-criptine), a dopamine receptor agonist (Loew, Vigouret & Jaton, 1976) on the mitotic activity of the pars intermedia of the rat pituitary gland.
Twenty-three
