Principles of Endocrinology

dr. Rahmi, M.Biomed

Subtopics
• Hormones exert a variety of regulatory effects
• The effective plasma concentration of a hormone
• Endocrine disorders result from hormone excess or deficiency or
decreased target-cell
• The responsiveness of a target cell can be varied by regulating the
number of hormone-specific receptors
 Hormone
• Chemical messenger
• Secreted by endocrine gland
• Travels in the blood
• Only specific target cells can
respond to each hormone
• Regulates a particular function

Endocrinology: the study of the homeostatic chemical

adjustments and other activities that hormones accomplish.
Hormones exert a variety of regulatory
effects
Maintaining homeostasis, such as:
• Regulating nutrient metabolism
• Regulating water and electrolyte balance
• Promoting growth
• Facilitating reproductive capacity
• Works along with the autonomic nervous system to control and
integrate activities of both the circulatory and the digestive systems
• Tropic Hormone:
• A hormone that has as its primary
function the regulation of hormone
secretion by another endocrine
gland
• Not only stimulate but also
maintain the structure of their
endocrine target tissues
• Example: thyroid-stimulating
hormone (TSH)  stimulates
thyroid hormone secretion by the
thyroid gland and maintains the
structural integrity of this gland
Complexity of Endocrine Function
• A single endocrine gland may produce multiple hormones.
• Ex: anterior pituitary secretes six different hormones
• A single hormone may be secreted by more than one endocrine gland
• Example, hypothalamus and pancreas secrete the hormone somatostatin
• A single hormone may has more than one type of target cell
• Ex: vasopressin promotes H2O reabsorption by the kidney tubules and causes
vasoconstriction of arterioles
• A single target cell may be influenced by more than one hormone
• Ex: insulin and glucagon stimulating liver cells
• The same chemical messenger may be either a hormone or a neurotransmitter
• Ex: Norepinephrine, which is secreted as a hormone by the adrenal medulla and released as a
neurotransmitter from sympathetic postganglionic nerve fibers
The effective plasma concentration of a
hormone
Depends on several factors:
• The hormone’s rate of secretion into the blood by the endocrine
gland
• Its rate of metabolic activation or conversion
• For lipophilic hormones, its extent of binding to plasma proteins
• Its rate of removal from the blood by metabolic inactivation
• and excretion in the urine
• Normally, the effective plasma concentration of a hormone is
regulated by appropriate adjustments in the rate of its secretion.
• Endocrine glands do not secrete their hormones at a constant rate;
the secretion rates of all hormones vary, subject to control often by a
combination of several complex mechanisms:
• Negative-Feedback Control
• Positive Feedback Control
• Neuroendocrine Reflexes
• Diurnal (Circadian) Rhythms
Negative-Feedback Control
• Prominent feature of hormonal control
systems
• maintains the plasma concentration of a
hormone at a given level
• Example: when the plasma concentration of
free circulating thyroid hormone falls below
a given set point, the anterior pituitary
secretes thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH),
which stimulates the thyroid to increase its
secretion of thyroid hormone. Thyroid
hormone, in turn, inhibits further secretion
of TSH by the anterior pituitary
Positive Feedback Control
• In a few instances, positive
feedback occurs when the biological
action of the hormone causes
additional secretion of the hormone
• Example : the surge of luteinizing
hormone (LH) that occurs as a
result of the stimulatory effect of
estrogen on the anterior pituitary
before ovulation
Neuroendocrine Reflexes
• Neural as well as hormonal
components
• Produce a sudden increase in
hormone secretion in response
to a specific stimulus
• EX: epinephrine by the adrenal
medulla is solely controlled by
the sympathetic nervous system
Diurnal (Circadian) Rhythms
• The secretion rates of many
hormones rhythmically fluctuate
up and down as a function of time
• Diurnal (“day–night”), or circadian
(“around a day”) rhythm
• characterized by repetitive
oscillations in hormone levels that
are very regular and cycle once
every 24 hours
Endocrine disorders result from hormone
excess or deficiency or decreased target-cell
Hyposecretion Hypersecretion
• Primary hyposecretion: • Primary hypersecretion:
endocrine gland is secreting too the defect lies in that gland
little of its hormone because of
an abnormality within that gland • Secondary hypersecretion:
• Secondary hyposecretion: • excessive stimulation from the
endocrine gland is normal but is outside of the gland
secreting too little hormone
because of a deficiency of its
tropic hormone.
• Abnormal Target-Cell Responsiveness
Target cells do not respond adequately to the hormone, even though
the effective plasma concentration of a hormone is normal
The responsiveness of a target cell can be varied by
regulating the number of hormone-specific receptors

Up Hormone Receptor Regulation Down Hormone Receptor Regulation

• the stimulating hormone induces
greater than normal formation of
receptor or intracellular signaling
molecules by the target cell
• greater availability of the receptor
for interaction with the hormone
• the target tissue becomes
progressively more sensitive to the
stimulating effects of the hormone
• increased hormon concentration
and increased binding with its
target cel receptors sometimes
cause the number of active
receptor to decrease
• decreases the target tissue’s
responsiveness to the hormone.
The responsiveness of a target cell can be varied by
regulating the number of hormone-specific receptors
Permissiveness, Synergism, and Antagonism
• With permissiveness, one hormone must be present in adequate
amounts to “permit” another hormone to exert its full effect
• Example: thyroid hormone increases the number of receptors for epinephrine
in epinephrine’s target cells, increasing the effectiveness of epinephrine

• Synergism occurs when the actions of several hormones are

complementary and their combined effect is greater than the sum of
their separate effects
• Example : follicle-stimulating hormone and testosterone, both of which are
needed to maintain the normal rate of sperm production
• Antagonism occurs when one hormone causes the loss of another
hormone’s receptors, reducing the effectiveness of the second
hormone
• Example: progesterone (a hormone secreted during pregnancy that decreases
contractions of the uterus) inhibits uterine responsiveness to estrogen
(another hormone secreted during pregnancy that increases uterine
contractions).
Thank You