REGULATION OF ACTH AND MSH PRODUCTION IN AMPHIBIANS - AN IMMUNOCYTOCHEMICAL STUDY ON AUTOGRAFTED PITUITARY IN TRITURUS-CARNIFEX

To ascertain whether the pituitary intermediate lobe is able to produc e adrenocorticotropic factors in vivo in Triturus carnifex, two groups of animals were subjected to ectopic pituitary autograft. Animals of one group were sacrificed two months after the autograft; those of the second group one year after the operation. Immunocytochemical study o f ACTH and MSH revealed that, in the autograft, only in the second gro up was the intermediate lobe immunopositive to an antiserum against sy nthetic ACTH (anti-ACTH). This result supports the hypothesis that the pituitary intermediate lobe can produce adrenocorticotropic factors i n vivo.