THE HUMAN ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

Week 14 Topic
ZOO106 – ANATOMY and PHYSIOLOGY
June 10-15, 2019

St. Paul University Philippines - College of Nursing School of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences 2nd Semester 2018-2019
 Learning Objectives
• On completion of the week’s activity, the
students should be able to

• identify the locations of the endocrine glands;

• state the structure and functions of the endocrine

glands;
 Learning Objectives
• define a hormone; and

• predict the outcomes of disturbed endocrine system

functions.
 The Human Endocrine System
• Endocrine organs

– ductless, well-vascularized (with enough

blood vessels) glands that release hormones
directly into the blood or lymph

– small and widely separated in the body

The Human Endocrine System
– includes mainly the

• pituitary (in the brain)

• thyroid (in the anterior aspect of the neck)

• parathyroids (behind the thyroid gland in the

neck)
The Human Endocrine System
• adrenal (on top of the kidneys)

• pancreas (largely in the epigastric region of

abdomen)

• gonads (ovary or testis; in the pelvic cavity)

How the Endocrine System
Works
ENDOCRINOLOGY (further
explanation)
The Human Endocrine System
• Hormone

– chemical released by a cell or a gland in

one part of the body that send out
messages that affect cells in other parts of
the organism

– steroid (lipid) or amino acid based

The Human Endocrine System
– influences cell activity by stimulating or
inhibiting characteristic cellular processes of
their target cells that may involve changes in,
but not limited to, the following:
• membrane permeability
• enzyme synthesis
• activation or inhibition secretory activity
• gene activation
• mitosis
The Human Endocrine System
– acts only on cells having the specific
receptor present either inside or on their
cytoplasm
The Human Endocrine System
– degraded mainly by the liver and kidneys, and
their breakdown products are excreted in the
urine and feces

– has limited and variable duration of activity

– regulated by the “negative feedback

mechanism” in which the nervous system,
through its hypothalamic controls, overrides or
modulates its effects
How HORMONES WORK
 The Human Endocrine System
• Hypothalamus

– regulates the hormonal output of the anterior

pituitary via releasing and inhibiting
hormones

– synthesizes two hormones that it brings to the

posterior pituitary for storage and later
release
 The Human Endocrine System
• Pituitary gland
– hangs from the base of the brain by a stalk
enclosed by bone of the skull

– consists of two portions:

• a hormone-producing glandular portion
(anterior pituitary gland/APG/adenohypophyisis)
• a neural portion
(posterior pituitary gland/PPG/neurohypophysis),
which is an extension of the hypothalamus
The Human Endocrine System
– four of the six adenohypophyseal hormones
(hormones of the APG) are “tropic” hormones that
regulate the function of other endocrine
organs

– most APG hormones exhibit a diurnal rhythm

of release as influenced by the hypothalamus
The Human Endocrine System
– APG hormones include
• growth hormone (GH)

– stimulates growth of all body tissues , especially skeletal

muscles and bones

– mobilizes fats, stimulates protein synthesis, and inhibits

glucose uptake and metabolism

– regulated by
» growth hormone– releasing hormone (GHRH)
» growth hormone–inhibiting hormone (GHIH), or
somatostatin
The Human Endocrine System
• thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)

– promotes normal development and activity of the thyroid

gland

– regulated by
» thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)
» negative feedback of thyroid hormone (when it needs
to be inhibited)
The Human Endocrine System
• adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)

– stimulates the adrenal cortex to release corticosteroids

– regulated by
» corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)
» negative feedback of glucocorticoids (when it needs
to be inhibited)
The Human Endocrine System
• gonadotropin
– regulates the functions of the gonads in both sexes
– regulated by
» gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
» negative feedback of gonadal hormones (when it
needs to be inhibited)

– includes
» follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
 stimulates sex cell production

» luteinizing hormone (LH)

 stimulates gonadal hormone production
The Human Endocrine System
• prolactin (PRL)

– promotes milk production in humans

– regulated by
» prolactin-releasing hormone (PRH)
» negative feedback of prolactin-inhibiting hormone (PIH)
(when it needs to be inhibited)
The Human Endocrine System
– PPG hormones include
• oxytocin

– stimulates
» powerful uterine contractions, which trigger labor and
delivery of an infant

» milk ejection in nursing (breastfeeding) women

– mediated reflexively by the hypothalamus and represents

a “positive”, not negative, feedback mechanism
The Human Endocrine System
• anti-diuretic hormone (ADH)

– stimulates the kidney tubules to reabsorb and conserve

water resulting in

» small volumes of highly concentrated urine

» decreased plasma osmolality (concentration of

solutes)

– released in response to high solute concentrations in the

blood

– inhibited by low solute concentrations in the blood

How does ADH Work?
 The Human Endocrine System
• Thyroid gland

– has thyroid follicles (follicular cells) that store

colloid containing thyroglobulin (a glycoprotein
from which thyroid hormone is derived)
The Human Endocrine System
– produces and secretes thyroid hormones
(below) which increases the rate of cellular
metabolism

• thyroxine (T4)

• triiodothyronine (T3)

– released in response to TSH

– inhibited by rising levels of thyroid hormone

The Human Endocrine System
– has parafollicular cells (C cells) that
produce calcitonin in response to rising
blood calcium levels (hypercalcemia)

• increases blood calcium levels by

– inhibiting bone resorption (release of calcium from

bones)

– enhancing calcium deposit in bone

Thyroid Gland
 The Human Endocrine System
• Parathyroid glands

– produce and secrete parathyroid hormone

(PTH)

• increases blood calcium levels by targeting the:

– bones (increased resorption)

– intestines (increased absorption)

– kidneys (increased reabsorption)

The Human Endocrine System
• antagonizes (acts opposite to) calcitonin

• PTH release

– triggered by falling blood calcium levels (hypocalcemia)

– inhibited by rising blood calcium levels

Parathyroid Gland
 The Human Endocrine System
• Adrenal gland
– also called ‘suprarenal’
– has two functional portions:
¹adrenal cortex
– produces three groups of adrenocortical hormones

» mineralocorticoids
» glucocorticoids
» gonadocorticoids
The Human Endocrine System
• mineralocorticoids (primarily aldosterone)

– regulate sodium ion reabsorption and potassium ion

excretion by the kidneys

– stimulated by
– renin-angiotensin mechanism
– increase in the level of potassium ions (hyperkalemia)
– decrease in sodium levels in the blood (hyponatremia)
– ACTH
The Human Endocrine System
• glucocorticoids (primarily cortisol)

– help the body resist stressors by increasing blood

glucose (hyperglycemia), fatty acid and amino acid levels,
and blood pressure

– high levels depress the immune system (IS) and the

inflammatory response (making the IS weak)

– stimulated mainly by ACTH

The Human Endocrine System
• gonadocorticoids (mainly androgens)

– produced in “small” amounts throughout life

The Human Endocrine System
²adrenal medulla

– epinephrine

– norepinephrine

» collectively called cathecolamines

» enhance and prolong the fight-or-flight response to
short-term stressors
ADRENAL GLAND
The Human Endocrine System
• Pancreas
– both an
• exocrine organ (details discussed in Week 13 Topic)
• endocrine gland (islets of Langerhans)
– produces mainly two hormones that regulate
carbohydrate levels
» insulin
 increases the rate of glucose uptake and metabolism
by most body cells
» glucagon
 stimulates the liver to release glucose to the blood by
breaking down glycogen (glycogenolysis)
Suggested Short Educational Videos for
Independent and/or Small Group Study

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Suggested Short Educational Videos for
Independent and/or Small Group Study

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 The Human Endocrine System
• Ovaries
– release two main hormones including
• estrogen by the ovarian follicles beginning at
puberty under the influence of FSH
– stimulates maturation of the female reproductive system
and the development of the female secondary sex
characteristics
The Human Endocrine System
• progesterone by the maturing follicles and
corpus luteum

– released in response to high blood levels of LH

– works with estrogen in establishing the menstrual cycle

 The Human Endocrine System
• Testes
– begin to produce testosterone at puberty in
response to LH
• testosterone helps in the
– maturation of the male reproductive organs
– development of secondary sex characteristics
– production of sperms (spermatogenesis)
 References
• Vanputte, C., Regan, J., & Russo, A. (2019). Seeley’s
Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology (10th Ed.) New York
City, McGraw Hill Education

• Marieb, E.N. (2006). Essentials of Human Anatomy and

Physiology. San Francisco, Pearson.

• Tortora, G. J. (2006). Principles of Anatomy and

Physiology. (11th. Ed.). New Jersey, John Wiley and
Sons, Inc.