HYPOTHALAMUS AND PITUITARY GLAND

O For many years, the pituitary gland or

hypophysis was called the master endocrine gland because it secretes several hormones that control other endocrine glands. O We now know that the pituitary gland itself has a masterthe hypothalamus. O This small region of the brain below the thalamus is the major link between the nervous and endocrine systems.

O Cells in the hypothalamus synthesize at

least nine different hormones, and the pituitary gland secretes seven. O Together, these hormones play important roles in the regulation of virtually all aspects of growth, development, metabolism, and homeostasis.

Pituitary Gland
O The pituitary gland is a pea-shaped

structure that measures 11.5 cm (0.5 in.) in diameter and lies in the hypophyseal fossa of the sella turcica of the sphenoid bone. O It attaches to the hypothalamus by a stalk, the infundibulum and has two anatomically and functionally separate portions: the anterior pituitary and the posterior pituitary.

The Anterior Pituitary

O The anterior pituitary (anterior lobe),

also called the adenohypophysis, accounts for about 75% of the total weight of the gland. O The anterior pituitary consists of two parts in an adult: The pars distalis is the larger portion, and the pars tuberalis forms a sheath around the infundibulum.

The Posterior Pituitary

O The posterior pituitary (posterior
O lobe), also called the neurohypophysis,

also consists of two parts: the pars nervosa, the larger bulbar portion, and the infundibulum. O A third region of the pituitary gland called the pars intermedia atrophies during human fetal development and ceases to exist as a separate lobe in adults.

ANTERIOR PITUITARY

Anterior Pituitary
The anterior pituitary or adenohypophysis

secretes hormones that regulate a wide range of bodily activities, from growth to reproduction. Release of anterior pituitary hormones is stimulated by releasing hormones and suppressed by inhibiting hormones from the hypothalamus. Thus, the hypothalamic hormones are an important link between the nervous and endocrine systems.

Hypophyseal Portal System

Hypothalamic hormones reach the anterior pituitary

through a portal system. In a portal system, blood flows from one capillary network into a portal vein, and then into a second capillary network without passing through the heart. In the hypophyseal portal system, blood flows from capillaries in the hypothalamus into portal veins that carry blood to capillaries of the anterior pituitary.

 The superior hypophyseal arteries, branches

of the internal carotid arteries, bring blood into the hypothalamus. At the junction of the median eminence of the hypothalamus and the infundibulum, these arteries divide into a capillary network called the primary plexus of the hypophyseal portal system. From the primary plexus, blood drains into the hypophyseal portal veins that pass down the outside of the infundibulum. In the anterior pituitary, the hypophyseal portal veins divide again and form another capillary network called the secondary plexus of the hypophyseal portal system.

Relation between Putuitary and Hypothalamus

Near the median eminence and above the optic

chiasm are clusters of specialized neurons, called hypothalamic neurosecretory cells. They synthesize the hypothalamic releasing and inhibiting hormones in their cell bodies and package the hormones inside vesicles, which reach the axon terminals by axonal transport. Nerve impulses stimulate the vesicles to undergo exocytosis. The hormones then diffuse into the primary plexus of the hypophyseal portal system.

Relation between Pituitary and Hypothalamus

hypothalamic hormones flow

with the blood through the portal veins and into the secondary plexus. hypothalamic hormones act immediately on anterior pituitary cells. Hormones secreted by anterior pituitary drain into the anterior hypophyseal veins and out into the general circulation

Types of Anterior Pituitary Cells

1. Somatotrophs secrete human growth hormone

(hGH) or somatotropin. Human growth hormone in turn stimulates several tissues to secrete insulinlike growth factors, hormones that stimulate general body growth and regulate aspects of metabolism. 2. Thyrotrophs secrete thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) or thyrotropin. TSH controls the secretions and other activities of the thyroid gland. 3. Gonadotrophs secrete two gonadotropins: folliclestimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). FSH and LH both act on the gonads. They stimulate secretion of estrogens and progesterone and the maturation of oocytes in the ovaries, and they stimulate sperm production and secretion of testosterone in the testes.

Types of Anterior Pituitary Cells

4. Lactotrophs secrete prolactin (PRL), which

initiates milk production in the mammary glands. 5. Corticotrophs secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) or corticotropin , which stimulates the adrenal cortex to secrete glucocorticoids such as cortisol. Some corticotrophs, remnants of the pars intermedia, also secrete melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH).

Types of Anterior Pituitary Cells

Hormone of Anterior Pituitary

1. Human Growth Hormone and Insulinlike

Growth Factors

The main function of hGH is to promote synthesis and secretion of small protein hormones called insulinlike growth factors (IGFs) or somatomedins. In response to human growth hormone, cells in the liver, skeletal muscles, cartilage, bones, and other tissues secrete IGFs, which may either enter the bloodstream from the liver or act locally in other tissues as autocrines or paracrines.

Hormone of Anterior Pituitary

2. Follicle-stimulating Hormone

In females, the ovaries are the targets for folliclestimulating hormone (FSH). Each month FSH initiates the development of several ovarian follicles, saclike arrangements of secretory cells that surround a developing oocyte
In males,FSH stimulates sperm production in the testes. Gonadotropinreleasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus stimulates FSH release.

Hormone of Anterior Pituitary

3. Luteinizing Hormone

In females, luteinizing hormone (LH) triggers ovulation, the release of a secondary oocyte (future ovum) by an ovary. Together, FSH and LH also stimulate secretion of estrogens by ovarianbcells. In males, LH stimulates cells in the testes to secrete testosterone. Secretion of LH, like that of FSH, is controlled by gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH).

Hormone of Anterior Pituitary

4. Prolactin

Prolactin (PRL), together with other hormones, initiates and maintains milk secretion by the mammary glands.
5. Thyroid-stimulating Hormone

Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) stimulates the synthesis and secretion of the two thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), both produced by the thyroid gland

Hormone of Anterior Pituitary

6. Adrenocorticotropic Hormone

Corticotrophs secrete mainly adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH controls the production and secretion of cortisol and other glucocorticoids by the cortex (outer portion) of the adrenal glands.
Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) from the hypothalamus stimulates secretion of ACTH by corticotrophs.

Hormone of Anterior Pituitary

7. Melanocyte-stimulating Hormone

Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) increases skin pigmentation in amphibians by stimulating the dispersion of melanin granules in melanocytes.
Its exact role in humans is unknown, but the presence of MSH receptors in the brain suggests it may influence brain activity.

Posterior Pituitary
Although the posterior pituitary or neurohypophysis does not synthesize hormones, it does store and release two hormones. It consists of axons and axon terminals of more than 10,000 hypothalamic neurosecretory cells. The cell bodies of the neurosecretory cells are in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus; their axons form the hypothalamohypophyseal tract. This tract begins in the hypothalamus and ends near blood capillaries in the posterior pituitary.


The paraventricular nucleus synthesizes the hormone oxytocin and the supraoptic nucleus produces antidiuretic Hormone also called vasopressin The axon terminals in the posterior pituitary are associated with specialized neuroglia called pituicytes. These cells have a supporting role similar to that of astrocytes.


After their production in the cell bodies of neurosecretory cells, oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone are packaged into secretory vesicles, which move by fast axonal transport to the axon terminals in the posterior pituitary, where they are stored until nerve impulses trigger exocytosis and release of the hormone.

Oxytocin
During and after delivery of a baby, oxytocin affects two target tissues: the mothers uterus and breasts. During delivery, oxytocin enhances contraction of smooth muscle cells in the wall of the uterus; After delivery, it stimulates milk ejection (letdown) from the mammary glands in response to the mechanical stimulus provided by a suckling infant.

Antidiuretic Hormone
an antidiuretic is a substance that decreases urine production. ADH causes the kidneys to return more water to the blood, thus decreasing urine volume. In the absence of ADH, urine output increases more than tenfold, from the normal 1 to 2 liters to about 20 liters a day. Drinking alcohol often causes frequent and copious urination because alcohol inhibits secretion of ADH. ADH also decreases the water lost through sweating and causes constriction of arterioles, which increases blood pressure. This hormones other name, vasopressin, reflects this effect on blood pressure.

 The amount of ADH secreted varies with blood osmotic pressure and blood volume