Human adenohypophyseal quantitative histochemical cell classification. II. Evaluation of the effects of two fixatives...

Quantitative cell counts on specific pituitary areas were done on differentially stained adenohypophyseal sections obtained at autopsy (four to 22 hours postmortem). We used specific criteria formulated from studies by previous authors to identify functional classes of secretory cells. We compared the effects of two fixatives, calcium acetate-buffered formaldehyde solution (CAF) and formol sublimate (FS), on morphologic identification. Calcium acetate-buffered formaldehyde solution is superior in identifying gonadotrophs and prolactin cells morphologically. Formol sublimate is superior in identifying the other cell types morphologically. Approximately 10% to 15% more cells could be classified by fixing with FS rather than CAF. The effect of postmortem autolysis was minimal. The only statistically significant (P less than .025) effect was the presence of a higher percentage of disrupted unclassifiable cells in CAF-fixed basophil areas at 12 to 24 hours than was present at 0 to 12 hours.