ENDOCRINE GLAND Flashcards
Anterior Pituitary
Subdivided into:
○ Pars tuberalis
○ Pars
intermedia
○ Pars distalis
Posterior Pituitary Subdivided into:
○ Infundibular
stalk
○ Pars nervosa
MAJOR ENDOCRINE GLANDS (4)
○ Pituitary Gland
○ Pineal Gland
○ Thyroid Gland
○ Parathyroid Gland
Anterior and posterior part is directly
attached to the
HYPOTHALAMUS
Pituitary gland occupies a fossa of the
sphenoid bone called
SELLA TURCICA
Originate primarily on the
PARAVENTRICULAR NUCLEI
OXYTOCIN
Originate from the SUPRAOPTIC
NUCLEI
ANTIDIURETIC HORMONE (ADH)
Derived from an outgrowth of oral
mucosa (Rathke’s pouch)
ANTERIOR PITUITARY GLAND
○ Anterior portion
○ Darker stained
PARS DISTALIS (adenohypophysis)
○ Posterior portion
○ Lighter stained
PARS NERVOSA (neurohypophysis)
○ Delineation between pars distalis and
pars nervosa
○ Separates anterior and posterior
pituitary gland
○ Indicated by the symbol (*)
PARS INTERMEDIA
Connects the hypothalamus to the
pituitary gland
● PITUITARY STALK
PITUITARY GLAND
○ Divided into:
Divided into:
■ Anterior Pituitary
■ Posterior Pituitary
A fossa of the sphenoid bone
● SELLA TURCICA
Resembles the Central Nervous Tissue
(CNS)
● INFUNDIBULAR STALK and PARS NERVOSA
Are typically glandular in their level of
staining
PARS DISTALIS, PARS INTERMEDIA, and
PARS TUBERALIS
Acidophil cells
● Somatotrophs
● Lactotrophs
Basophil cells
● Gonadotrophs
● Thyrotrophs
● Corticotrophs
Acidophils, basophils, and
chromophobes
Pars distalis:
■ Cell staining is more
EOSINOPHILIC
■ Imparts pink color
■ Attract more eosinophils
Acidophils
■ Blue-staining
■ Lighter stained
○ Basophils
■ Located in the cytoplasm
■ poorly-stained
Chromophobes
○ From which oxytocin and vasopressin is
being released upon neural stimulation
NEUROSECRETORY/HERRING BODIES
Containing unmyelinated axons
supported and insheeted by
glial cells called
PITUICYTES
Most numerous cells
present in the posterior
pituitary gland
PITUICYTES
Aggregation of secretions
○ Deeply-staining
○ Basophilic structures
HERRING BODIES
From neural ectoderm
POSTERIOR PITUITARY GLAND
○ Focal, axonal swellings, that are pact
with secretory granules
○ Upon neural stimulation, oxytocin and
ADH will be released
HERRING BODIES
○ Glial cells of the pituitary gland
○ Nuclei that are visible in sections belong
in pituicytes
PITUICYTES
Small; cone-shaped gland
○ Arises as evagination of roof of
diencephalon
○ Base attached to roof of 3rd ventricle by
two stalks
○ Well-developed in children
○ At puberty, starts to involute
PINEAL GLAND
Hormone elaborated by pinealocytes
Secretion is stimulated by darkness and
inhibited by light
MELATONIN
Also known as: psammoma bodies,
corpora arenacea
○ Concretions of calcium and magnesium
salts
Brain sand
○ Thin connective tissue; derived from the
pia mater
○ Septae incompletely divide organ into
lobules
Capsule
■ 95% of cell population
■ Produces melatonin
Pinealocytes
■ Comprise 5% of cell population
■ Modified astrocytes
Interstitial cells
Largest endocrine gland
THYROID GLAND
Arises as epithelial invagination at base
of tongue
THYROID GLAND
