Immunocytochemical Detection of Prolactin and Growth Hormone Cells in the Pituitary during Early Development of the Japanese Eel, Anguilla japonica(Endocrinology)

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The occurrence and development of prolactin (PRL) and growth hormone (GH) cells were investigated in the Japanese eel by means of an immunocytochemical method. Both PRL and GH cells were detected in the pituitary in all the specimens of the leptocephali, even in the smallest (10.0 mm in total length). In the leptocephalus, the mean percentage of PRL-cell area to the whole pituitary area (% PRL) was 6.5±1.2%, the % GH being 15.5±2.0%. Both % PRL and % GH exhibited a tendency to decrease as leptocephali grew larger. In the glass eel, caught just before upstream migration, the % PRL was 12.6±0.5%, almost twice as much as that in the leptocephalus, whereas the % GH was 16.7±1.3%, similar to the value in the leptocephalus. The activation of PRL cells in the glass eel suggests that PRL has an osmoregulatory role in freshwater adaptation during the upstream migration. Our findings also suggest that GH is important for larval growth and, possibly, osmoregulation in seawater during their early life stages.
社団法人日本動物学会の論文
1992-10-15