A New Blood-Pressure Principle of the Anterior Lobe of the Pituitary

Abstract

Hitherto only the posterior lobe of the pituitary was known to contain a blood-pressure principle generally called vasopressin. Its role in the circulation system is not defined, and it is not held to be of great importance. As for the anterior lobe of the pituitary, no blood-pressure factor has been found, although some clinical evidence has pointed to its existence; for example, diseases of pituitary origin like acromegaly, Simmonds disease, Cushing syndrome, and Fröhlich disease are very regularly accompanied by blood-pressure anomalies. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that hypophysectomy in animals leads to low blood pressure. However, as some hormones of the adrenals, such as the adrenalin and the desoxycorticosterone group, have effects on blood pressure, and adrenalectomy is known to be followed by a much lower degree of blood pressure than hypophysectomy, attention has been directed hitherto to the hormones of the adrenals. Another reason for neglecting the pituitary in this respect arose out of the problem connected with the Cushing syndrome, which was increasingly regarded as being related to the adrenals rather than the pituitary.