I was giving a lecture on Hypothalamus and the Control of Pituitary and a student asked me a question from the kind of (Why) which I find hard to answer; He asked why the release of hormones from Anterior pituitary is mediated by intermediary hormones which is not the case in the posterior pituitary ?
I knew the implications of such mechanism and the physiologic effectes but not the "why" .. May be it can be answered from Developmental Respective.
any ideas to share regarding this point?
Anterior and posterior pituitary gland are the two lobes of the pituitary gland. Each lobe secretes hormones that regulate functions of the other endocrine glands such as adrenal gland, thyroid gland, ovaries, and testis. The pituitary gland is called as the ‘master’ gland of the endocrine system and it protrudes from the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. The production and secretion of hormones of the pituitary gland are regulated by the hypothalamus. The anterior pituitary gland is called adenohypophysis whereas the posterior pituitary gland is called neurohypophysis. The main difference between anterior and posterior pituitary gland is that the action of the anterior pituitary gland is regulated through vessels connected to the hypothalamus whereas the action of the posterior pituitary gland is regulated through nerves connected to the hypothalamus.
Best Regards Ahmad Samir AlFaar
Thank you. Actually this is an answer for "How" Question, but the question was why there is intermediary hormones or messengers between hypothalamus and anterior pituitary but not the posterior?
I thought it can be answered from embryologic or developmental perspective because anterior pituitary is not part from the earliest brain but Rathke's Pouch .. but is there a better answer?
Hi
My idea is “embryological and developmental perspective with an eye to neuroendocrine physiological aspects!” (Maybe) the reason is that physiologically all hormones in anterior part of pituitary produce exactly in that part (indogenouse hormones) but what about Oxytocin and anti diuretic hormone (ADH:vasopressin)? as you know, they produce in hypothalamic nuclious and then transfer to posterior part of pituitary gland by nervious system! Therefor it seems that the answer maybe is: production and secretion of hormons which are produce in anterior part of pituitary need a trigger!
but nervous system in posterior pituitary needs a neuroendocrine pathway to release)!
Im so enthusiastic to follow this question to find other replies.
Thanks for your question.
The answer is embryology. If this question is valid then we all have emerged from three from layers.
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