Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Conversely, chronically elevated ACTH levels occur in primary adrenal insufficiency (e.g. Addison's disease) when adrenal gland production of cortisol is chronically deficient. In Cushing's disease, a pituitary tumor leads to excessive production of ACTH, which stimulates the adrenal cortex to produce high levels of cortisol.
Today, neuroendocrinology embraces a wide range of topics that arose directly or indirectly from the core concept of neuroendocrine neurons. Neuroendocrine neurons control the gonads, whose steroids, in turn, influence the brain, as do corticosteroids secreted from the adrenal gland under the influence of adrenocorticotrophic hormone. The study ...
Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an aggressive cancer originating in the cortex (steroid hormone-producing tissue) of the adrenal gland.. Adrenocortical carcinoma is remarkable for the many hormonal syndromes that can occur in patients with steroid hormone-producing ("functional") tumors, including Cushing's syndrome, Conn syndrome, virilization, and feminization.
In humans and other animals, the adrenocortical hormones are hormones produced by the adrenal cortex, the outer region of the adrenal gland.These polycyclic steroid hormones have a variety of roles that are crucial for the body's response to stress (for example, the fight-or-flight response), and they also regulate other functions in the body.
The adrenal cortex is the outer region and also the largest part of the adrenal gland. It is divided into three separate zones: zona glomerulosa, zona fasciculata and zona reticularis. Each zone is responsible for producing specific hormones. It is also a secondary site of androgen synthesis. [2]
Corticotropes produce and release ACTH, a 39 amino acid peptide hormone, in response to corticotropic releasing hormone (CRH) release from the hypothalamus. CRH is a 41-amino-acid peptide hormone that is secreted by the parvocellular neurosecretory cells , which are found within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus.
The adrenal cortex is composed of three distinct layers of endocrine cells which produce critical steroid hormones.These include the glucocorticoids, which are critical for regulation of blood sugar and the immune system, as well as response to physiological stress; the mineralcorticoid aldosterone, which regulates blood pressure and kidney function; and certain sex hormones.
An example of a neuroendocrine cell is a cell of the adrenal medulla (innermost part of the adrenal gland), which releases adrenaline to the blood. The adrenal medullary cells are controlled by the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. These cells are modified postganglionic neurons. Autonomic nerve fibers lead directly to them ...