1. Describe position, development & function of pituitary gland.

ANS:

Pituitary gland:

Position:

 Pituitary gland/ hypophysis cerebri is small gland located at the base of brain between
the hypothalamus & the pineal gland, just behind the bridge of nose.
 It consists of large anterior lobe (adenohypophysis) & thinner posterior lobe
(neurohypophysis) between which is a thin zone (the intermediate lobe).
 It is attached to brain by a thin stem of blood vessels & nerve cell projections.
 Frontal lobe of pituitary is biggest & constitute of 80% of glands weight.

Function:

 It is the master gland that controls thyroid gland, adrenal gland, ovaries & testicles.
 Pituitary creates oxytocin for uterus & mammary glands to stimulate contraction in
birth & milk production.
 Vasopressin, an antidiuretic hormone for the kidneys.
 Endorphins for the brain & immune system to inhibit pain sensations & regulate the
immune system.
 Growth hormones for muscles & bones.
 Prolactin for milk production in mammary glands.

Development:

 The pituitary gland is developed from two separate sources i.e. surface ectoderm and
neuroectoderm.
 The anterior pituitary develops from an ectodermal diverticulum that grows upward
from the roof of the stomodeum. The diverticulum is called Rathke’s pouch.
 The posterior pituitary develops from a downgrowth from the floor of the 3rd
ventricle in the region of the infundibulum during 6th week.
 During development of pituitary six different cells develop from Rathke’s pouch and
they form the pars anterior and pars intermedia.
  Though the posterior lobe is neuroectodermal in origin it does not
contains neurons.
 The cells of posterior lobe are neuroglial (pituicytes) and are traversed
by nerve fibers from hypothalamus.

2. Describe position, development & function of thyroid gland.

Answer:

Position:
  The thyroid gland is endocrine gland, situated in the lower part of the front & sides of
the neck.
 The gland consist of right & left lobes that are joined to each other by isthumus.
 The gland lies against vertebrae C5, C6, C7 & T1 taking upper part of trachea.

Development:

 Thyroid develops from median endodermal thyroid diverticulum which grows down
in front of neck from the floor of pharynx.
 The lower end of diverticulum enlarges to form the gland.
 Rest of the diverticulum is narrow & called as thyroglossal duct.
 The gland becomes functional during 3rd month of development.

Function:

 It secretes hormone, thyroxine (T4) & triiodothyronine (T3) into the blood stream.
 The hormones control the rate at which cells & organs turns nutrients into energy &
amount of oxygen cell use.
 It is a master metabolic control centre in body.
 It regulated the basal metabolic rate, stimulate psychic growth & plays important role
in calcium metabolism.
 Regulation of carbohydrate, lipid & protein metabolism.
 Regulate CNS activity & brain development.
 Bone & tissue growth & development.
 Gastrointestinal regulation.
 3. Describe position, development & function of hypothalamus.

Answer:

Position:

 Hypothalamus is a part of diencephalon.

 It lies in floor & lateral wall of third ventricle below hypothalamic sulcus.
 It is the head ganglion of autonomic nervous system because it take part in control of
many visceral & metabolic activities of the body.
 It is bounded anteriorly & posteriorly by perforated substance on each side by optic
tract & crus cerebri.

Functions:

 Endocrine control: by forming release inhibiting hormone & regulates secretion of

TSH, LH & FSH, ACTH (corticotropin) & STH (somatotropin).
 Temperature regulation: i.e. maintain balance between heat production & heat loss of
the body.
 Regulation of food & water intake: i.e. regulation of hunger or thirst centre.
 Sexual behaviour & reproduction: i.e. maintainence of secondary sexual characters,
controls gametogenesis, reproductive cycles (uterine, ovarian), etc
 Biological clocks: i.e. functional activity during 24 hrs of a day. (sleep/wakefulness)
 Control of Emotion, fear, pleasure & reward by hypothalamus

Development:

 Cerebral hemispheres arises from the lateral wall of prosencephalon during 5-6
weeks.
 This enlarge to cover thalamus, midbrain & pons.
 Further forms lobes, poles, sulci & gyri.
 Basal part increases in size to form two big nuclei connected together by fibres.
 4. Describe position, development & function of suprarenal gland.

Answer:

Suprarenal gland: Intro?

Position:

 Suprarenal gland are pair of endocrine glands situated in the part of the upper
abdomen immediately over the stomach on posterior abdominal wall over the upper
pole of kidneys behind the peritoneum.
 They are made up of two parts:
i) Outer cortex that secretes a number of steroid hormones.
ii) Inner medulla i.e. made of chromaffin cells & secretes
adrenaline & non- adrenaline.
 Each gland measures 50 mm in height, 30 mm in breadth & 10 mm in thickness.
 It is 1/3rd of size of kidney at birth & 1/30th of it in adults.
 Weighs about 5g.
 Right suprarenal is triangular/ pyramidal & left is semilunar in shape.

Functions:

 Cortex of suprarenal gland secretes hormones

 Mineralocorticoids- control of fluid & electrolyte balance.
 Glucocorticoids- metabolism of carbohydrates, fats & proteins.
 Development of sex organs before & during puberty
 The balance of sex hormones including estrogen & progesterone.
 Medulla of suprarenal glands secretes hormones
 i.e. catecholamines
 epinephrine
 norepinephrine
Development:

 The cortex of gland develops from mesoderm of coelomic epithelium.

 Medulla is derived from the neural crest cells.