[Ultrastructural modifications in the hypophyseal-adrenocortical system in rabbits during experimentally induced parodontosis (author's transl)]

During parodontosis induced experimentally by irritation of dental pulp with carbolic acid in rabbits, the participation in the pathological process of adenohypophyseal ACTH-producing cells and of adrenocortical fasciculata cells was studied. Ultrastructural alterations suggesting stimulation of ACTH and glycocorticoid synthesis were observed. The data obtained prove that via afferent pathways to the central nervous system, irritation of the dental pulp induces morphofunctional alterations in the hypothalamo-adenohypophyseal neurosecretory system, by means of functional perturbation of the cerebral cortex leads to hypothalamus (CRF) leads to adenohypophysis (ACTH) leads to adrenal cortex (glucocorticoids)axis.