Endocrine system

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 .
 The endocrine system is a series of ductless glands that secrete
messenger molecules called hormones into the circulation.
 The circulating hormones travel to distant body cells and signal
characteristic physiological responses in those cells.

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 Cont,d
 Through its hormonal signals, the endocrine
system controls and integrates the functions of
other organ systems in the body.
 In its general integrative role, the endocrine
system resembles the nervous system, with which
it closely interacts.
 to bring about homeostasis in the body

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 .

•Some major processes controlled by the endocrine

system are:
 growth of the body and of the reproductive organs,
 the mobilization of body defenses against stress,
 maintenance of proper blood chemistry, and
 control of the rate of oxygen use by the body’s cells.
•The scientific study of hormones and the endocrine glands
is called endocrinology.

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 .
• The endocrine cells of the body are partly contained within “pure”
endocrine organs and partly within organs of other body systems.
• The purely endocrine organs are:
 the pituitary gland at the base of the brain;
 the pineal gland in the roof of the diencephalon;
 the thyroid and parathyroid glands in the neck; and
 the adrenal glands on the kidneys (each adrenal gland is actually two
glands, an adrenal cortex and an adrenal medulla).

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 .

 Organs that belong to other body systems but also contain a

large proportion of endocrine cells include the pancreas, the
thymus, the gonads, and the hypothalamus of the brain.
 Because the hypothalamus produces hormones in addition to
performing its nervous functions, it is considered a
neuroendocrine organ.
 Numerous other organs, for example the heart, digestive tract,
kidneys, and skin, also contain scattered or small pockets of
cells that secrete hormones.

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 . Control of Hormone Secretion
 The various endocrine cells of the body are stimulated to make and
secrete their hormones by three major types of stimuli :
 humoral stimuli
 neural stimuli
 hormonal stimuli.

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 Humoral

• Endocrine glands that secrete their hormones in direct

response to changing levels of ions or nutrients in the blood
are said to be controlled by humoral stimuli.
• This is the simplest endocrine control mechanism.
• For example, the cells of the parathyroid gland directly
monitor the concentration of calcium ions (Ca2+) in the
blood .
• respond to any decline in this concentration by secreting a
hormone that acts to increase blood calcium levels.

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 Neural

• The secretion of a few endocrine glands is controlled by

neural stimuli.
• For example : sympathetic nerve fibers stimulate cells in
the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine and
norepinephrine during fight-or-flight situations.

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 Hormonal
• Many endocrine glands secrete their hormones in response to
hormonal stimuli received from other endocrine glands.
• that is certain hormones have the sole purpose of promoting the
secretion of other hormones.
• For example, the hypothalamus of the brain secretes some
hormones that stimulate the anterior part of the pituitary gland.
• secrete its hormones, which in turn stimulate hormonal secretion by
other endocrine glands: cortex, and the gonads.

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 Pituitary gland
 lies below the hypothalamus and attached by a stalk
(infundibulum)
 lies in hypophyseal fossa of sella turcica of sphenoid bone
 it has a size and shape of pea and often referred as a master gland
(secrets several hormones that regulate the function of the other
endocrine glands)
 has two lobes; anterior and posterior

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 .
Anterior lobe
(adenohypophysis)
• Has three parts
– pars distalis
– pars intermedia
– pars tuberalis

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 secretes the following major hormones
 thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH)- act on thyroid gland
 adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)- act on adrenal gland
 follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)- stimulates primary ovarian
follicles in an ovary
 lutenizing hormone (LH) – stimulates ovulation
 melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) – causes the synthesis of
melanin
 growth hormone and prolactin (lactogenic) hormone- stimulates
growth and milk production

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Posterior lobe (neurohypophysis)
• has three parts
 pars nervosa
 infundibular stalk
 median eminence
• stores two hormones
• antiduretic hormone (ADH)- accelerates reabsorption of water
from urine in the kidneys and it controls water balance in the body
• oxytocin – stimulates contraction of smooth muscles of the pregnant
uterus to facilitate labor and child birth.

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Cells of the pituitary gland
• somatotropic cells – secrete growth hormone
• lactotropic cells – secrete prolactin
• thyrotrophic cells- secrete thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)
• corticotropic cells- secrete adrenocorticotropic (ACTH) and
melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH)
• gonadotropic cells- secrete follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)
and lutenizing hormone (LH)

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 Pituitary Disorders
Gigantism and Acromegaly
• Hyper secretion of GH in children
• Gigantism is overall growth
• Acromegaly is enlarged hands and feet
Pituitary dwarfism
• Hypo secretion of GH
• Proportions are normal, overall size is small

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 Thyroid gland
 Butter fly shaped gland located in the anterior neck (anterior and
lateral surface of trachea below larynx at the level of C5-T1
 It’s the largest pure endocrine gland, composed of two lobes
connected by an isthmus
 Consists of many spherical hollow sacs called thyroid follicles .

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 Thyroid
 These follicles are lined with a simple cuboidal epithelium
composed of follicular cells that synthesize the two
principal thyroid hormones
 b/n the follicles are epithelial cells called para follicular
cells that produce a hormone called calcitonin
 secretes hormones in response to stimulation by TSH from
the pituitary gland

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  Secretes thyroxine (T4) and triiodo thyronine (T3) : these
hormones contain the element iodine, which is essential to the
function of hormone
 Their main function is increasing the basal metabolic rate
(the rate at which the body uses oxygen to transform
nutrients in to energy)
 Secrets calcitonin- when blood calcium levels are high
calcitonin lowers blood levels of Ca2+ by
 slowing the calcium releasing activity of osteoclasts in

bone ( increasing deposition of calcium in the bone)and

 increasing calcium excretion by the kidney In
dependent of pituitary gland hormones

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 Arterial supply:
 Two major arteries supply the thyroid gland.
1)Superior thyroid artery:
The superior thyroid artery is the first branch of the
external carotid artery.
2)Inferior thyroid artery:
The inferior thyroid artery is a branch of the
thyrocervical trunk, which arises from the first part of
the subclavian artery.
3)Thyroid ima artery (10%)
Occasionally, a small thyroid ima artery arises from the
brachiocephalic trunk or the arch of the aorta and ascends on
the anterior surface of the trachea to supply the thyroid gland.
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 Venous drainage:
 Three veins drain the thyroid gland:
1)the superior thyroid vein primarily drains the area supplied by
the superior thyroid artery.
2)the middle and inferior thyroid veins drain the rest of the
thyroid gland.
superior and middle thyroid veins drain into the IJVs; the
inferior thyroid veins drain into the brachiocephalic veins
Innervation:
o by recurrent laryngeal nerves are branches from the
vagus nerve.

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 Cont,
 Hyper secretion – Graves disease
-elevated metabolic rate
- Rapid heart rate
- sweating
- Nervousness and
- Weight loss
 Hypo secretion- cretinism
• low metabolic rate, felling of being cold
• lethargy, photophobia
• weight gain
-mental retardation
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 Cont,
 Goiter-a disease characterized by the enlargement of
thyroid gland .
 can result from insufficient levels of iodine in the diet the
thyroid requires iodine to synthesize the hormone
thyroxine.
 iodine deficiency causes thyroid to swell.

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Cretinism -hypothyroidism in children
• Short, disproportionate body, thick tongue and mental retardation

goiter

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 Parathyroid gland
• Four small glands that lie on the posterior surface of the thyroid gland
• Composed of two types of cells; chief cells and oxyphil cells

1. Chief cells - small basophilic cells, arranged in clusters

- Synthesize and secrete parathyroid hormone (PTH)
- High blood calcium level inhibit production of PTH
- PTH- stimulate osteoclasts ↑ca+
- ↓excretion of calcium by the kidney

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 2. Oxyphil cells- large eosinophilic cells those are
present singly or in small clusters
- Have no known function but their number increases with
age

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 Adrenal or suprarenal gland
 the paired adrenal or supra renal glands are pyramidal or crescent
shaped organs , lie on the superior surface of the kidneys
 consists of two divisions (portions)

Adrenal cortex
the outer thickest region of adrenal gland
makes up 80- 90% of the volume of gland
synthesize and secrete various steroid hormones
histologically divided in to three concentric regions

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1. zona glomerulosa
 synthesize and secrete mineralocorticoid e.g. Aldosterone
 control the amount of minerals in the blood

2. Zona fasciculata
 synthesize and secretes glucocorticoid e.g. cortisol
 Hormone production is stimulated by ACTH
 maintain normal glucose concentration

3. zona reticularis
 synthesize and secrete small amount of gonado corticoids sex
hormones e.g. androgenes
 Hormone production is stimulated by ACTH

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 B. Adrenal medulla
 Contains chromaffin cells, which secrete the catecholamine
(epinephrine and norepinephrine)
 Catecholamine released in response to intense emotional reaction
important for fight or flight activities

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 Adrenal gland
Adrenal Gland Disorders
• Cushing’s syndrome
• hypersecretion of cortisol
• Round “moon” face and “buffalo hump”

• Addison’s disease
• Hyposecretion of cortisol
• Low blood pressure results
Hyperpigmentation: most marked on areas
exposed to sunlight, such as face and neck.
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 pineal gland (pineal body )
 is a small, pine cone shaped structure on the roof of the
diencephalons
 composed of cells called pinealocytes which secrete
melatonin (night ) and serotonin (day)
 it also influences reproductive system and gonadal activities
 it’s activity in fluenced by daily cycle of light and dark

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 Hypothalamus
 it is the neuroendocrine gland
 actual production of the ADH(Supra-optic nucleus) and
oxytocin( Paraventricular nucleus).
 it controls the release of ADH and oxytocin in to the blood
 it also secretes many hormone like substances that control
body functions such as body temperature , appetite , thirst etc..

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 The pancreas
 Position in the upper abdomen, just under the stomach
 The major part of the pancreas, called the exocrine pancreas functions
as an exocrine gland, secreting digestive enzymes in to GIT
 The endocrine cells of the pancreas are contained in spherical bodies
called pancreatic islets or islets of Langerhans
 The main cell types in the islets are alpha and beta cells

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 alpha or A cells – secrete glucagons (increase blood glucose
level)
 beta or B cells – secrete insulin (decrease blood glucose level)
the pancreatic islets also contain two rare cell types
 delta or D cells – secrete somatostatin (a hormone that inhibits
the secretion of glucagons and insulin by the near by alpha and
beta cells
 F cells (PP) cells – secrete pancreatic polypeptide , a hormone
that may inhibit the exocrine activity of pancreas

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 The gonads
 Gonads are organs that produce gametes
sperm in males
oocytes in female
 female sex glands
 The two ovaries are the women’s sex glands , located in the pelvic
cavity
 Each ovary contains two different structures
1. ovarian follicles – secrete estrogen
2. corpus luteum- chiefly secretes progestrone and some estrogen
 estrogens maintain the reproductive organs and secondary sex
characteristics of females

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 Progesterone signals the uterus to prepare for pregnancy
 These female sex hormones (with FSH and LH )
regulate menstrual cycle
regulate oogenesis
maintain pregnancy
prepare mammary glands for lactation
establish and maintain feminine secondary sex characterstics
(e.g. breast and wide pelvis

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 Male sex glands
 the male gonads (testes) are oval glands that lie in scrotum, produce
sperm and also secrete number of male sex hormones or androgens
 the most important androgen is testosterone
 the interstitial cells in the testis secrete testosterone
 testosterone gives the following functions
 masculinizes the individual
maintain the reproductive organs and accessory organs
 stimulates secondary sex characteristics of males
promote the formation of sperm
stimulates descent of testes before birth

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 Thymus
 located in the lower neck and anterior thorax (mediastinum)
 In infants it may extend up to lower edge of thyroid gland as
age increases it will atrophy
 Secretes a hormone called thymosin and thymopoietin which
causes T lymphocytes to gain immuno competence (important
for the development and functioning of the body's immune
system)

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 Placenta
 Secrets several steroid and protein hormones including
estrogen , progestrone and human choriionic gonadotrophin
(HCG)
 During pregnancy the kidneys excrete large amount of
chorionic gonadotropins in the urine. This led to pregnancy
testes

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 Other endocrine structures
The heart
 the atria secrets atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), stimulates
kidney to increase its secretion of salt and its production of
salty urine.
The kidneys:
 juxtaglomerular apparatus secrets renin , signals adrenal
cortex to secret aldosterone.
 other kidney cells secret erythropoietin signals the bone
marrow to increase production of red blood cells

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 The skin:
cholesterol molecules changes to precursor of
vit. D by ultraviolet radiation.
Activated vit. D signals intestine to absorb
calcium from the diet

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 THANKS !!!

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