Hypothalamus

HYPOTHALAMUS
 Three Mechanisms of Action:

✓ Secretes hormones as an endocrine organ.

✓ Secretes regulatory hormones to control the pituitary gland.

✓ Contains autonomic centers that exert direct neural control of

adrenal medullae.
 Important Hormones Secreted by
Hypothalamus

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)

• stimulates release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)

• stimulates release of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)

Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH)

• stimulates secretion of growth hormone

Growth hormone-inhibiting hormone (GHIH)

• inhibits secretion of growth hormone
 Important Hormones Secreted by
Hypothalamus

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)

• stimulates release of gonadotropins (FSH and LH)

Prolactin-releasing hormone (PRH)

• stimulates secretion of prolactin

Prolactin-inhibiting hormones (PIH)

• inhibits secretion of prolactin
Pituitary Gland
Pituitary Gland
 Pituitary Gland

✓ also called "hypophysis“

✓ receives signals from the hypothalamus

✓ releases important hormones

- all are peptide hormones
- all bind to membrane receptors
Pituitary Gland
 Pituitary Gland

Posterior pituitary gland (Neurohypophysis)

• not a glandular tissue but a nervous tissue instead
• secretes hormones produced by the nerve cells of the
hypothalamus

Anterior pituitary gland (Adenohypophysis)

• the true glandular part of the pituitary gland
• produces its own hormones, control other endocrine glands
 Posterior Pituitary Gland
( Neurohypophysis)

Releases hormones:

Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH)

• reduce water loss in the urine
• increases thirst

Oxytocin
• stimulates uterine contraction during birth, milk delivery
• stimulates prostate gland smooth muscle
 Anterior Pituitary Gland
( Adenohypophysis)

✓ controlled by regulatory hormones from hypothalamic

neurons.

✓ hypophyseal portal system transports hypothalamic hormones

directly to anterior pituitary target cells.

✓ regulated by negative feedback.

 Anterior Pituitary Hormones
THYROID-STIMULATING HORMONE (TSH)

✓ Target gland is the THYROID GLAND

✓ Promotes and maintains the growth and development of its

target gland.
Prolactin (PRL)

✓ Target organ MAMMARY GLANDS

✓ Also called “lactogenic hormone or LTH”

✓ produced by females following childbirth

✓ stimulates mammary glands development and milk secretion

 Anterior Pituitary Hormones
ADENOCORTICOTROPIC HORMONE (ACTH)

✓ Target organ is the ADRENAL CORTEX

✓ Stimulates the adrenal cortex to synthesize and secrete

some of its hormones into the bloodstream.

✓ stimulates glucocorticoid release from adrenal gland

✓ promotes and maintains normal growth and development

of the cortex of the adrenal gland
 Anterior Pituitary Hormones

Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH)

✓ Target organs are testis and ovary

✓ Acts upon the gonads or sex organs

✓ Promotes the development of the follicles within the ovary

✓ Stimulates estrogen secretion, egg production (females),

sperm production

✓ Stimulates follicle cells to synthesize and secrete estrogen

Thyroid Gland
 Thyroid Gland

✓ Regulates metabolism and energy balance

✓ About 2-inches long and lies in front of your throat below

the prominence of thyroid cartilage.

✓ Has two sides called lobes that lie on either side of your
windpipe, and is usually connected by a strip of thyroid
tissue known as an isthmus.

✓ Contains numerous thyroid follicles

Thyroid Gland
 Thyroid Follicles and Hormones

✓ Required for normal development

✓ Production requires adequate iodine

in the diet.

✓ Release thyroid hormones:

• Thyroxine (T4)
• Triiodothyronine (T3)
- increases metabolism and heat
production
 C Cells of the Thyroid Gland
(Parafollicular Cells)

✓ Scattered outside of follicle

epithelium

✓ Secretes calcitonin:
• lowers blood calcium levels
• inhibits osteoclasts of bone
• increases urinary calcium loss
 C Cells of the Thyroid Gland
(Parafollicular Cells)

✓ Scattered outside of follicle

epithelium

✓ Secretes calcitonin:
• lowers blood calcium levels
• inhibits osteoclasts of bone
• increases urinary calcium loss
Parathyroid Gland
 Parathyroid Gland

✓ Four glands embedded on

thyroid posterior

✓ Maintains calcium
homeostasis

✓ Acts on bone and kidney

cells
 Parathyroid Hormone (PTH)
✓ Increase calcium concentration in body fluids

✓ Bones : stimulates the release of calcium from

large calcium stores in the bones into the
bloodstream.
• increases bone destruction and decreases
the formation of new bone.

✓ Kidneys : reduces loss of calcium in urine.

• stimulates the production of active
VITAMIN D in the kidneys.

✓ Intestine: indirectly increases calcium

absorption from food in the intestine
Adrenal Gland
 Adrenal Gland

✓ Made of two parts:

• Adrenal Cortex (outer)
• Adrenal Medulla
(inner).

✓ Lie along the superior

border of each kidney

✓ Surrounded by fibrous
capsule
 Three Layers of the Adrenal Cortex
✓ Zona glomerulosa
Secretes a class of hormones
called mineralocorticoids.

✓ Zona fasciculate
Secretes small amounts of
glucocorticoids and
gonadocorticoids
(sex hormone)

✓ Zona reticularis
Secretes glucocorticoids
 Adrenal Cortex: Hormones
Aldosterone
✓ Stimulates kidney tubules to conserve sodium, which in
turn triggers the release of ADH and the resulting
conservation of water by the kidney

Mineralocorticoids
✓ Regulates how mineral salts are processed in the body.

✓ Primary function is the maintenance of sodium homeostasis

in the blood.

✓ Promotes water retention by the body.

✓ Aldosterone- the only physiologically important

mineralocorticoid.
 Adrenal Cortex: Hormones
Glucocorticoids
✓ The chief glucocorticoids secreted by the zona fasciculate of
the adrenal cortex are Cortisol, Cortisone and
Corticosterone.

✓ Accelerate the breakdown of proteins into amino acids.

✓ Essential for maintaining a normal blood pressure.

Cortisol
✓ Influences metabolism of food molecules, in large amounts,
it has an anti-inflammatory effects
 Adrenal Cortex: Hormones
Gonadocorticoids
✓ Sex hormone

✓ The normal adrenal cortex secretes small amounts of male hormones.

✓ Normally, not enough androgen is produced to give women masculine

characteristics, but it is sufficient to influence the appearance of pubic
and axillary hair in both boys and girls.

Adrenal Androgens
✓ Exact role uncertain but may support sexual function

Adrenal Estrogens
✓ Physiologically insignificant
 Adrenal Medulla and Hormones
✓ Produces two related hormones:

Norepinephrine
✓ 20% of Medulla’s secretion
✓ Enhances and prolongs the effects of the sympathetic
division of the autonomic nervous system

Epinephrine
✓ 80% of Medulla’s secretion
✓ Also known as adrenaline
✓ Enhances and prolongs the effects of the sympathetic
division of the autonomic nervous system
Pineal Gland
Pineal Gland
 Pineal Gland

✓ A member of two body system:

 NERVOUS SYSTEM- receives and processes nerve stimuli
relayed from other parts of the nervous system.

 ENDOCRINE SYSTEM- secretes hormones.

✓ Synthesizes melatonin (principal hormone)

Pancreas
Pancreas
Pancreas

✓ composed of
both
Endocrine
and
Exocrine
Tissues
 Pancreas
✓ each of the 1 to 2 million pancreatic islets in the pancreas
contains a combination of four primary types of endocrine
cells secreting different hormones:

 alpha cells – secretes glucagon

 beta cells – secretes insulin

 delta cells – secretes somatostatin

 pancreatic polypeptide cells – secretes pancreatic

polypeptide