Histology Flashcards
Endocrine System Generalizations
No ducts -> secretions enter circulation directly
Rich blood supply -> delivers modulators to gland, caries secretions to other parts of body
Parenchyma -> epithelial cells
Hormones
specific molecules secreted into bloodstream that elicit selective responses from organs/tissues/cells
- require complementary receptor
- effective at low [ ]
- feedback loops
2 general categories of hormones
- AA derived (proteins, peptides, AA) -> pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, pancreatic (endodermal/ectodermal)
- Steroids (cholesterol derivatives) -> gonads, adrenal cortex (mesodermal)
Hormone Receptors
- Intracellular receptors -> in cytoplasm or nucleus (lipid soluble -> steroids or thyroids)
- Cell-surface receptors -> all AA-derived hormones except thyroids (hydrophilic -> bind specific receptors -> GPCR)
Discrete Endocrine Glands
pituitary, pineal, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal
Both endocrine and exocrine glands
kidney, pancreas, gonads, placenta
Signaling
Endocrine -> travel through blood to end organ
Paracrine -> signaling to adjacent cell
Autocrine -> signaling on self-cell
Pituitary Embryology
Formation of floor of diencephalon and roof of stomatodeum (pouch of Rathke)
Oral ectoderm -> pars tuberalis, distalis, intermedia
Neural ectoderm -> pars nervosa, infundibulum
Adenohypophysis
Pars distalis - 75% of hypophysis
- anastamosing cords of cells separated from sinusoidal capillaries by CT
Chromophobes
50% of pars distalis cells
- appear in clusters, nuclei surrounded by light cytoplasm
- may be degranulated acidophils and basophils
Chromophils
50% of pars distalis cells
- Acidophils (40%)
- Basophils (10%)
Acidophils
- Somatotrophs -> growth hormone, somatotropin (STH)
2. Mammotrophs -> prolactin (PRL) (cell # increases during pregnancy and lactation)
Basophils
- Thyrotrophs -> thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)
- Gonadotrophs -> follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) -> interstitial cell stimulating hormone in men
- both contained in secretory vesicles - Corticotrophs -> adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
Pars intermedia
rudimentary in humans -> produce melanocyte-stimulating hormone
- Rathke’s cysts
Pars tuberalis
highly vascularized area, superior hypophyseal arteries terminate here to form primary plexus of portal system
Neurohypophysis
pars nervosa and infundibulum
- contains 100,000 unmyelinated axons of secretory nerve cells
- cell bodies lie in supraoptic and paraventricular nucleus
- hypothalamo-hypophyseal tract
Paraventricular Nucleus
oxytocin -> secretion induced by suckling
- causes contraction of myoepithelial cells surrounding mammary glands
- promotes contraction of smooth muscle of uterine wall
Supraoptic nucleus
ADH (vasopressin)
- increases water permeability of distal convoluted tubule and collecting tubules –> increases water resorption
- stimuli –> increased plasma osmolality, decreased blood volume