INTERSTITIAL AMYLOID DEPOSITS IN THE PITUITARY-GLAND - MORPHOMETRY, IMMUNOHISTOLOGY, AND CORRELATION TO DISEASES

The prevalence and immunoreactivity of interstitial amyloid deposits o f the pituitary glands of 109 consecutive autopsies of individuals ove r 84 years of age were studied using Congo red staining and antibodies directed against the major amyloid fibril proteins and pituitary horm ones. in addition, the amount of interstitial amyloid formation was ev aluated quantitatively and compared with all autopsy-related and clini cal diagnoses available. Eighty-seven (80%) of the 109 cases exhibited interstitial amyloid deposits in the anterior lobe. All reacted immun ohistochemically with antiamyloid lambda light chain and antiamyloid P -component. Quantitative analysis in 62 cases revealed a mean volume p ercentage of interstitial amyloid in the anterior lobe of 0.56%. In st atistical analysis, only two of the 25 diseases recorded were associat ed with interstitial amyloid: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease an d non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The prevalence of chronic o bstructive pulmonary disease correlated positively with the occurrence (chi(2); P < .02) as well as with the amount of amyloid (Wilcoxon; P < .04) in the pituitary. In addition, non-insulin-dependent diabetes m ellitus was accompanied with higher amounts of interstitial amyloid th an with all other disorders (Wilcoxon; P < .03). Until now, a correlat ion was proposed only between non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and islet amyloidosis of the pancreas.