basophil cell basophil cell an anterior pituitary basophil is a type of cell in the anterior pituitary which manufactures hormones. this article is about cells in the pituitary gland. for the class of blood cells, see basophil granulocyte. basophil cellmicroanatomy of the pars distalis of the anterior pituitary, showing chromophobes, basophils, and acidophilsdetailslocationanterior pituitaryidentifiersthh3.08.02.2.00023 anatomical terms of microanatomy it is called a basophil because it is basophilic (readily takes up bases), and typically stains a relatively deep blue or purple. these basophils are further classified by the hormones they produce. (it is usually not possible to distinguish between these cell types using standard staining techniques.) cell namerelative proportionhormone producedhypothalamic regulators corticotrophs15%acthcrh gonadotrophs10%fsh, lh and hcg*gnrh thyrotrophs5%tshtrh *produced only in pregnancy by the developing embryo.