Overview of Endocrine System

Dr. Sovan Bagchi

Professor of Physiology

www.gmu.ac.ae COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

 Learning Objectives
• Classify the Hormones
• Enlist the Functions of Hormones
• Describe Mechanism of Hormone action
• Describe the Regulation of secretion of Hormone
 Endocrine glands

1. Hypothalamus
2. Pituitary
3. Thyroid gland
4. Parathyroid glands
5. Langergans’ islands of
pancreas
6. Epinephrine glands
7. Sex glands
Specific stimulus for hormones secretion

Nervous impulse

Concentration of the certain compound in blood

Types of Hormones
 Chemical structure of hormones

 Protein & polypeptide hormones

Eg. Anterior and Posterior pituitary hormones,
Pancreatic hormones etc.

 Steroid hormones: having steroid nucleus and

derived from cholesterol
Eg. Cortisol, Aldosterone, Testosterone, Estrogen etc.

 Amino acids (tyrosine) derivatives

Eg. T3,T4, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine etc.
 Synthesis, Storage and secretion of hormones
Protein hormone

All protein hormones are formed by

rough ER as preprohormone -
biologically inactive
Cleaved into smaller protein called
prohormone in ER.
Transported to Golgi apparatus and
cleavage of another protein part makes
prohormone to biologically active
hormone
In golgi apparatus they are packed as
secretary vesicle and stored.
Specific signal cause the secretion.
 Synthesis, Storage and secretion of hormones

Other hormone

Steroid hormones are stored in small quantities on specific

signal enzymes act on precursor molecules to synthesize
hormones.
Thyroid hormone formed as part of large protein
Thyroglobulin and stored in follicle of thyroid gland.
Norepinephrine and epinephrine are formed and stored in
secretary granules secreted by exocytosis
 Transport

• Peptide hormones generally dissolved in plasma and transported from their

site of synthesis to target issues.
• Steroid and thyroid hormones circulate in blood mainly bound to plasma
proteins.
• 99% of Thyroid hormone bound to plasma protein - Bound hormones are
physiologically inactive as they cannot diffuse across the capillaries –
reservoirs.
• Catecholamines – in free state or bound with albumins, sulphates or
glucuronic acid
 Mechanisms of Action of Hormones
• Generally they act through specific receptor and this receptor-hormone
complex leads to cascade action.
• Membrane receptors: Peptide hormone receptor.
• Cytoplasmic receptor: steroid hormone
• Nucleus receptor: T3 and T4

The number of receptors in a target cell usually does not remain constant.
Up regulation and down regulation is common in hormonal action.
 Inactivation of hormones

• After biochemical effect hormones are released and metabolized

• Hormones are inactivated mainly in liver
• Inactive metabolites are excreted mainly with urine
• The rate of removal of the hormone from the blood is called the
metabolic clearance rate

• Half-time life
from several min to 20 min – for the majority of hormones
till 1 h – for steroid hormones
till 1 week – for thyroid hormones
 Feedback control of hormone secretion

• Hormone secretion are generally regulated by internal control

mechanism.
• This is controlled by negative feed back mechanism
• Negative feedback effect to prevent over secretion of the
hormone or over activity at the target tissue.
 EFFECTS OF HORMONES ACTION

1. Change the permeability of cell membrane, accelerate the

penetration of substrates, enzymes, co-enzymes into the cell and
out of cell.
2. Acting on the allosteric centers affect the activity of enzymes
(Hormones penetrating membranes).
3. Affect the activity of enzymes through the messengers (cAMP).
(Hormones that can not penetrate the membrane).
4. Act on the genetic apparatus of the cell (nucleus, DNA) and
promote the synthesis of enzymes (Steroid and thyroid hormones).
 Learning Resources
 Text Book: Marieb EN. Human Anatomy and Physiology,
9th Edition, Pearson International Edition; 2014. ISBN-13:
978-1-2920-2649-7. Chapter 16, pp. 643-644.
 Power-point presentation in the moodle

www.gmu.ac.ae COLLEGE OF PHARMACY