Endocrine glands

Definition

Endocrine glands release (secrete) hormones into the bloodstream.

The endocrine glands include:

• Adrenal
• Hypothalamus
• Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas
• Ovaries
• Parathyroid
• Pineal
• Pituitary
• Testes
• Thyroid

Information

Hypersecretion is when an excess of one or more hormone is secreted from a gland. Hyposecretion is when the amount of hormones are released is too low.

There are many types of disorders that can result when too much or too little of a hormone is released.

Disorders that may be associated with abnormal hormone product from a particular gland include:

Adrenal:

• Addison disease
• Adrenogenital syndrome or adrenocortical hyperplasia
• Cushing syndrome
• Pheochromocytoma

Pancreas:

• Diabetes mellitus
• Hypoglycemia

Parathyroid:

• Tetany
• Renal calculi
• Excessive loss of minerals from bone (osteoporosis)

Pituitary:

• Growth hormone deficiency
• Acromegaly
• Gigantism
• Diabetes insipidus
• Cushing disease

Testes and ovaries:

• Lack of sex development (unclear genitalia)

Thyroid:

• Congenital hypothyroidism
• Myxedema
• Goiter
• Thyrotoxicosis

Images

References

Guber HA, Farag AF. Evaluation of endocrine function. In: McPherson RA, Pincus MR, eds. Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. 23rd ed. St Louis, MO: Elsevier; 2017:chap 24.

Klatt EC. The endocrine system. In: Klatt EC, ed. Robbins and Cotran Atlas of Pathology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2015:chap 15.

Kronenberg HM, Melmed S, Larsen PR, Polonsky KS. Principles of endocrinology. In: Melmed S, Polonsky KS, Larsen PR, Kronenberg HM, eds. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. 13th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:chap 1.