Immunologic localization of alpha- and beta-endorphins and beta-lipotropin in corticotropic cells of the normal and anencephalic fetal pituitaries.

The use of antibodies to alpha-(17--39) ACTH, beta-LPH, and alpha- and beta-endorphins has enabled the detection of immunoreactive cells as early as the eight week of fetal life. Immunoreactive cells are located in the anterior and intermediate lobes of the pituitary gland in normal human fetuses. The same cells reacted with different antisera used in the present study. No immunoreactive cells were observed in the posterior lobe. The specificity of the immunocytological reaction has been controlled. In seven anencephalic fetuses, the presence of immunoreactive cells suggests that ACTH and beta-LPH can originate from a common precursor and are synthesized independent of the hypothalamus.