The pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea that sits in the small, bony cavity (sella turcica) at the base of the brain. Its posterior lobe is connected to a part of the brain called the hypothalamus via the tuberoinfundibular pathway. The anterior pituitary lobe receives releasing hormone s from the hypothalamus via a portal vein system. The pituitary gland secretes hormones regulating a wide variety of bodily activities, including trophic hormones that stimulate other endocrine glands. For a while, this led scientists to call it the master gland, but now we know that it is in fact regulated by releasing hormones from the hypothalamus. It is physically attached to the brain by the pituitary, or hypophyseal, stalk connected with the median eminence.

The pituitary gland is divided into two sections: the anterior lobe (adenohypophysis) and the posterior lobe (neurohypophysis). The posterior pituitary is, in effect, a projection of the hypothalamus. It does not produce its own hormones, but only stores and releases the hormones oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone (ADH).

The anterior pituitary secretes growth hormone, prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, endorphins and other hormones.

There is also an intermediate lobe in many animals. In adult humans it is just a thin layer of cells between the anterior and posterior pituitary, nearly indistinguishable from the anterior lobe. The intermediate lobe produces melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH), although this function is often (imprecisely) attributed to the anterior pituitary.

Functions

The pituitary gland helps control the following body processes:

• Growth
• Blood pressure
• Some aspects of pregnancy and childbirth)
• Breast milk production
• Censored page functions in both women and men
• Thyroid gland function
• The conversion of food into energy (metabolism)
• Water balance in the body

See also

• Sheehan syndrome
• Pickardt syndrome
• Pituitary adenoma

External link

• The Pituitary Gland, from the UMM Endocrinology Health Guide http://www.umm.edu/endocrin/pitgland.htm

Endocrine system - Pituitary gland
Posterior pituitary - Pars nervosa - Median emminence - Infundibular stalk
Anterior pituitary - Pars intermedia - Pars tuberalis - Pars distalis - Somatotropes - Lactotropes - Thyrotropes - Gonadotropes - Corticotropes

Endocrine system
Adrenal gland - Corpus luteum - Hypothalamus - Ovaries - Pancreas - Parathyroid gland - Pineal gland - Pituitary gland - Testes - Thyroid gland