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Cerebrospinal Fluid Pituitary Hormone Concentrations in Patients with Pituitary Tumors

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Neurobiology of Cerebrospinal Fluid 1

Abstract

Adenohypophyseal hormones are frequently detectable in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with pituitary adenomas,1,3,26,33,35,37,40,59,65 especially those showing suprasellar extension (SSE).33,37,40 However, the issue of their presence in the CSF of normal subjects is controversial. Some workers readily find anterior pituitary hormones in CSF,2,62 while others do not.1,33,37,40,65 It has been proposed that in the normal individual, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is relatively impermeable to the anterior pituitary hormones and that measurable levels of these substances in the CSF of patients with pituitary tumors indicate a breakdown in the blood-CSF barrier.33,35,59 However, the possibility that adenohypophyseal hormones are normal constituents of CSF, though present at the limits of sensitivity of available assays, is not excluded. Evidence in favor of this view is provided by studies from Linfoot et al.,40 who reported that growth hormone (GH) levels in the CSF of acromegalic patients without SSE correlated with the weight of the plasma concentration of GH. Similar findings have also been reported for prolactin (PRL).5

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Tufts-New England Medical Center Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, 02111, USA

    Kalmon D. Post M.D.

  2. Department of Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    Bruce J. Biller M.D.

  3. Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Tufts-New England Medical Center Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, 02111, USA

    Bruce J. Biller M.D. & Ivor M. D. Jackson M.D.

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  1. Kalmon D. Post M.D.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, USA

    James H. Wood M.D. (Consultant) (Consultant)

  2. Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute National National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20205, USA

    James H. Wood M.D. (Consultant) (Consultant)

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Post, K.D., Biller, B.J., Jackson, I.M.D. (1980). Cerebrospinal Fluid Pituitary Hormone Concentrations in Patients with Pituitary Tumors. In: Wood, J.H. (eds) Neurobiology of Cerebrospinal Fluid 1. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1039-6_41

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1039-6_41

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