Ontogeny of immunoreactive somatostatin in thyroid C cells from dogs and guinea pigs

The development of immunoreactive somatostatin in thyroid C cells of dogs and guinea pigs from early fetuses to adults was investigated by the use of immunoperoxidase histochemistry and radioimmunoassay. The time of appearance and developmental patterns of immunoreactive somatostatin in the C cells were completely different in both species. In guinea pig thyroids, the somatostatin immunoreactivity appeared later than the calcitonin immunoreactivity and the number of somatostatin-positive cells was very small during fetal periods. The somatostatin immunoreactivity rapidly increased during neonatal periods. A large population of the somatostatin cells and a high concentration of somatostatin immunoreactivity were observed in mature animals. On the other hand, in dog fetuses somatostatin immunoreactivity appeared very early, at the same time as the calcitonin immunoreactivity. The largest population of somatostatin cells was found at the stage when the primordial follicles were vigorously formed throughout whole thyroid parenchyma. At this stage almost all of calcitonin-positive cells were also somatostatin-positive. The somatostatin cells progressively decreased as the development proceeded, in contrast to the calcitonin cells which increased with gestational age. In postnatal dogs only a few C cells revealed the immunoreaction for somatostatin, and the concentration of somatostatin was very low. These findings suggest that the function of somatostatin in dog thyroid C cells may be different from that in guinea pig C cells.