Chapter 18 Flashcards
Hormone
A molecule that is released in one part of the body but regulates the activity of cells in other parts of the body. Most hormones enter interstitial fluid and then the bloodstream. The circulating blood delivers hormones to cells throughout the body.
Exocrine glands
Secrete their products into ducts that carry the secretions into body cavities, into the lumen of an organ, or to the outer surface of the body. Include sudoriferous (sweat), sebaceous (oil), mucous, and digestive glands.
Endocrine glands
Secrete hormones, which circulating blood delivers to target tissues. Include the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, and pineal glands.
Endocrine system
All endocrine glands and hormone-secreting cells. Include the hypothalamus, thymus, pancreas, ovaries, testes, kidneys, stomach, liver, small intestine, skin, heart, adipose tissue, and placenta.
Receptors
A specific protein that hormones, like neurotransmitters, chemically bind to to influence their target cells.
Down-regulation
A decrease in the number of target cell receptors when a hormone is present in excess. Makes a target cell less sensitive to a hormone.
Up-regulation
An increase in the number of target receptors when a hormone is deficient. Makes a target cell more sensitive to a hormone.
Circulating hormones
Hormones that pass from the secretory cells that make them into interstitial fluid and then into the blood. Most endocrine hormones are this.
Local hormones
Act locally on neighboring cells or on the same cell that secreted them without entering the bloodstream.
What are the two types of local hormones? Describe them
- Paracrines: local hormones that act on neighboring cells.
- Autocrines: local hormones that act on the same cell that secreted them.
What are the three types of lipid-soluble hormones?
- Steroid hormones
- Thyroid hormones (T3 and T4)
- Nitric oxide (NO)
What are the three types of water-soluble hormones?
- Amine hormones
- Peptide hormones and protein hormones
- Eicosanoid hormones (prostaglandins (PGs) and leukotrienes (LTs))
What are the three functions of transport proteins?
- They make lipid-soluble hormones temporarily water-soluble, thus increasing their solubility in blood.
- They retard passage of small hormone molecules through the filtering mechanism in the kidneys, thus slowing the rate of hormone loss in the urine.
- They provide a ready reserve of hormone, already present in the bloodstream.
Free fraction
Molecules of a lipid-soluble hormone that are not bound to a transport protein. Diffuses out of capillaries, binds to receptors, and triggers responses.
What is the action of lipid-soluble hormones?
Bind to receptors inside target cells.
What is the action of water-soluble hormones?
Cannot diffuse through the lipid bilayer of the plasma membrane and bind to receptors inside the target cells, like lipid-soluble hormones. Instead, they bind to receptors embedded in the plasma membranes of target cells.
First messenger
The hormone. Causes production of a second messenger.
Second messenger
Is located inside the cell, where specific hormone-stimulated responses take place (Eg. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate AKA cyclic AMP (cAMP)).
Permissive effect
When the action of one hormone on its target cell requires simultaneous or recent exposure to a second hormone. Sometimes the permissive hormone increases the number of receptors for the other hormone, and sometimes it promotes the synthesis of an enzyme required for the expression of the other hormone’s effects.
Synergistic effect
When the effect of two hormones acting together is greater than the sum of their individual effects.
Antagonistic effects
When one hormone opposes the actions of another hormone.
What three things is hormone secretion regulated by?
- Signals from the nervous system
- Chemical changes in the blood
- Other hormones
Pituitary gland
AKA hypophysis; the “master” endocrine gland; secretes several hormones that control other endocrine glands. Contains cells that secrete 7 different hormones that play important roles in the regulation of virtually all aspects of growth, development, metabolism, and homeostasis.
What two parts can the pituitary gland be divided into?
- Anterior pituitary
- Posterior pituitary
Anterior pituitary
AKA adenohypophysis; accounts for about 75% of the total weight of the gland and is composed of epithelial tissue.
What two parts can the anterior pituitary be divided into? Describe them
- Pars distalis: larger portion.
- Pars tuberalis: forms a sheath around the infundibulum.
Posterior pituitary
AKA neurohypophysis; accounts for about 25% of the total weight of the gland and is composed of neural tissue.
What three parts can the posterior pituitary be divided into? Describe them
- Pars nervosa: the larger bulbar portion
- Infundibulum
- Pars intermedia: atrophies (shrinks) during human fetal development and ceases to exist as a separate lobe in adults.
Hypothalamus
The “master” of the pituitary gland; is the major link between the nervous and endocrine systems. Contains cells that secrete 9 different hormones that play important roles in the regulation of virtually all aspects of growth, development, metabolism, and homeostasis.
Infundibulum
Stalk that attaches the pituitary gland to the hypothalamus.
What are the five types of anterior pituitary cells?
- Somatotrophs
- Thyrotrophs
- Gonadotrophs
- Lactotrophs
- Corticotrophs
What hormone(s) do somatotrophs secrete? Describe them
Secrete growth hormone (GH), also known as human growth hormone (hGH) or somatotropin. GH stimulates general body growth and regulates aspects of metabolism.
What hormone(s) do thyrotrophs secrete? Describe them
Secrete thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), also known as thyrotropin. TSH controls the secretions and other activities of the thyroid gland.
What hormone(s) do gonadotrophs secrete? Describe them
Secrete two gonadotropins: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). FSH and LH both act on the gonads (testes and ovaries). In men, they stimulate the testes to produce sperm and to secrete testosterone. In women, they stimulate the ovaries to mature oocytes (eggs) and to secrete estrogens and progesterone.
What hormone(s) do lactotrophs secrete? Describe them
Secrete prolactin (PRL), which initiates milk production in the mammary glands.
What hormone(s) do corticotrophs secrete? Describe them
Secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), also known as 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).
What five releasing hormones does the hypothalamus secrete?
- Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) (AKA somatocrinin)
- Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)
- Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)
- Prolactin-releasing hormone (PRH)
- Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
What does growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) stimulate the secretion of?
Stimulates secretion of growth hormone.
What does thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulate the secretion of?
Stimulates secretion of thyroid-stimulating hormone.
What does corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) stimulate the secretion of?
Stimulates secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone.
What does prolactin-releasing hormone (PRH) stimulate the secretion of?
Stimulates secretion of prolactin.
What does gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulate the secretion of?
Stimulates secretion of FSH and LH.
What two inhibiting hormones does the hypothalamus secrete?
- Growth hormone-inhibiting hormone (GHIH) (AKA somatostatin)
- Prolactin-inhibiting hormone (PIH) (AKA dopamine)
What does growth hormone-inhibiting hormone (GHIH) suppress the secretion of?
Suppresses secretion of growth hormone.
What does prolactin-inhibiting hormone (PIH) suppress the secretion of?
Suppresses secretion of prolactin.
In the hypophyseal portal system, blood flows from capillaries in the hypothalamus into portal veins that carry blood to capillaries of the anterior pituitary. In other words, the hormones carried by the system allow communication between the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary and establish an important link between the nervous system and the endocrine system. The ______, 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 ______. From the primary plexus, blood drains into the ______ 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 ______. ______ drain blood from the anterior pituitary.
Superior hypophyseal arteries; primary plexus of the hypophyseal portal system; hypophyseal portal veins; secondary plexus of the hypophyseal portal system; Hypophyseal veins
Neurosecretory cells
Clusters of neurons that synthesize the hypothalamic releasing and inhibiting hormones in their cell bodies and package the hormones inside vesicles, which reach the axon terminals by fast axonal transport, where they are stored.
Tropic hormones
AKA tropins; the anterior pituitary hormones that act on other endocrine glands.
Growth hormone (GH)
AKA somatotropin; stimulates liver, muscle, cartilage, bone, and other tissues to synthesize and secrete insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), which in turn promote growth of body tissues. GH acts directly on target cells to enhance lipolysis and decrease glucose uptake.
Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs)
AKA somatomedins; small protein hormones that growth hormone (GH) indirectly secretes its growth-promoting effects through.
What are the three specific functions of IGFs?
- Increase growth of bones and soft tissues
- Enhance lipolysis
- Decrease glucose uptake
How is GH secretion regulated?
Secretion of GH is stimulated by growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) and inhibited by growth hormone-inhibiting hormone (GHIH).
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
AKA thyrotropin; stimulates synthesis and secretion of thyroid hormones by thyroid gland.
Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
In females, initiates development of oocytes and induces ovarian secretion of estrogens. In males, stimulates testes to produce sperm.
Luteinizing hormone (LH)
In females, stimulates secretion of estrogens and progesterone, ovulation, and formation of corpus luteum. In males, stimulates testes to produce testosterone.
Prolactin (PRL)
Together with other hormones, promotes milk production by mammary glands.
Lactation
Consist of milk production and ejection.
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
AKA corticotropin; stimulates secretion of glucocorticoids (mainly cortisol) by adrenal cortex.
Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH)
Exact role in humans is unknown but may influence brain activity; when present in excess, can cause darkening of skin.
The posterior pituitary ______ synthesize hormones, and it stores and releases 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 ______; their axons form the ______. This tract begins in the hypothalamus and ends near blood capillaries in the posterior pituitary. The neuronal cell bodies of both the paraventricular and the supraoptic nuclei synthesize the hormones ______ and ______, also called vasopressin. The axon terminals in the posterior pituitary are associated with specialized neuroglia called ______. These cells have a supporting role similar to that of astrocytes.
Doesn’t; paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus; hypothalamic-hypophyseal tract; oxytocin (OT); antidiuretic hormone (ADH); pituicytes
Blood is supplied to the posterior pituitary by the ______, which branch from the internal carotid arteries. In the posterior pituitary, the inferior hypophyseal arteries drain into the ______, a capillary network that receives secreted oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone. From this plexus, hormones pass into the ______ for distribution to target cells in other tissues.
Inferior hypophyseal arteries; capillary plexus of the infundibular process; hypophyseal veins