Abstract
A pituitary tumour composed of well-differentiated corticotrophs and adrenocortical cells is reported. Sections of the tumour revealed a mixture of small round cells with amphophilic or basophilic periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive cytoplasm and large spherical and oval cells with abundant, granular, partly vacuolated PAS-negative cytoplasm. The small cells contained type 1 cytokeratin-positive microfilaments, numerous 250–500 nm endocrine-type secretory granules immunoreactive for adenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and β-lipotropin. The large cells possessed ample cytoplasm filled with abundant vesicular smooth endoplasmic reticulum, numerous mitochondria possessing tubulovesicular cristae and frequent dense bodies. They lacked the features of pituitary endocrine cells or folliculostellate cells and were found to contain a panel of steroidogenic dehydrogenases and hydroxylases. The tumour was classified as a choristoma, in which two distinct cells types, corticotrophs and adrenocortical cells, were mixed. We suggest that, under continued ACTH stimulation, uncommitted stem cells may differentiate into adrenocortical cells. Alternatively, the presence of adrenocortical cells may be the result of heterotopia.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arey LB (1965) Developmental anatomy. A textbook and laboratory manual of embryology, 7th edn. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 518–519
Blumenthal HT (1955) Aging processes in the endocrine glands of various strains of normal mice-relationship of hypophyseal activity to aging changes in other endocrine glands. J Gerontol 10:253–267
Bozic C (1974) Ectopic fetal adrenal cortex in the lung of a newborn. Virchows Arch [A] 363:371–374
Chin L, Brody RI, Morales P, Black VH (1994) Immunocytochemical characterization of intrarenal adrenal tissue. Urology 44:429–432
Cotran RS, Kumar V, Robbins SL (1989) Pathologic basis of-disease, 4th edn. Saunders, Philadelphia, p 1251
Crooke AC, Russel DS (1935) Pituitary gland in Addison's disease. J Pathol Bacteriol 40:255–283
Groat RA (1994) Formation and growth of adrenocortical-like tissue in the ovaries of the adrenalectomized ground squirrel. Anat Rec 89:33–41
Horvath E, Kovacs K, Killinger DW, Smyth HS, Platts ME, Singer W (1980) Silent corticotropic adenoma of the human pituitary gland. Am J Pathol 98:617–638
Kepes JJ, O'Boynick PO, Jones S, Baum D, McMillan J, Adams ME (1990) Adrenal cortical adenoma in the spinal canal of an 8-year-old girl. Am J Surg Pathol 14:481–484
Laqueur GL, Harrison MB (1951) Glandular adipose tissue associated with cytotoxic suprarenal contraction and diabetes mellitus. Am J Pathol 27:231–244
MacFarland WE (1945) The vital necessity of adrenal cortical tissue in a mammal and the effects of proliferations of cortical cells from dormant coelomic mesothelium. Anat Rec 93:233–249
Meyer AW (1917) A congenital intra-cranial, intra-dural adrenal. Spolia anatomica, addenda II. Anat Rec 12:43–50
Reibord H, Fisher ER (1968) Electron microscopic study of adrenal cortical hyperplasia in Cushing's syndrome. Arch Pathol 86:419–426
Sasano H, Sasano N (1988) Extraadrenal immunohistochemical distribution of steroid 21-hydroxylase in human. Tohku J Exp Med 154:21–28
Sasano H, Mason JI, Sasano N (1989) Immunohistochemical study of cytochrome P-45017α in human adrenocortical disorders. Hum Pathol 20:113–117
Sasano H, Mason JI, Sasano N, Nagura H (1990) Immunolocalization of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in human adrenal cortex and its disorders. Endocr Pathol 1:94–101
Sasano H, Nagura H, Harada N, Goukon Y, Kimura M (1994) Immunolocalization of aromatase and other steroidogenic enzymes in human breast disorders. Hum Pathol 25:530–535
Scheithauer BW, Kovacs K, Randall RV (1983) Pituitary gland in untreated Addison's disease: a histologic and immunocytologic study of 18 adenohypophysis. Arch Pathol Lab Med 107:484–487
Sugano S, Ohnishi T, Hatae N, Ishimura K, Fujita H, Yamano T, Okamoto M (1985) Monoclonal antibodies against bovine adrenal cytochrome P-45011β and cytochrome P-450SCC. Their isolation, characterization and application to immunohistochemical analysis of adrenal cortex. J Steroid Biochem 23:1013–1021
Weiss LM, Michael JG, Warhol MJ, Mehta P, Bonsib SM, Bruder E, Santos E, Mederios LJ (1991) Immunocytochemical characterization of a monoclonal antibody directed against mitochondria reactive in parraffin-embedded sections. Mod Pathol 4:596–601
White PC, New MI, Dupont B (1984) Cloning and expression of cDNA encoding a bovine adrenal cytochrome P-450 specific for steroid 21-hydroxylation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 81:1986–1990
Wiener MF, Dallgaard SA, Manhasset LI (1959) Intracranial adrenal gland. AMA Arch Pathol 67:228–233
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oka, H., Kameya, T., Sasano, H. et al. Pituitary choristoma composed of corticotrophs and adrenocortical cells in the sella turcica. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 427, 613–617 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00202893
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00202893