In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirement in
ZOOLOGY 100 (LEC)

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

Submitted by:
Dofredo, Ivy Kate B.
(BMLS- 1A)

Submitted to:
Mrs. Meriane Pascua
 ENDOCRINOLOGY
I. Definition of Terms
Glands – cells or groups of cells specialized in structure, and function to produce substances
needed in bodily processes.
TWO TYPES OF GLANDS:
1.) Exocrine glands – glands of external secretion which discharge their products
through ducts (duct glands).
2.) Endocrine glands - glands of internal secretions which discharge their products
directly into the blood stream (ductless glands).
Secretions – products of glands.
Hormones or endocrines – protoplasmic secretions of endocrine glands that serve to control
growth and regulate body activities.
Hyperfunction of the gland – results in hypersecretion (over-secretion).
Hypofunction of the gland – results in hyposecretion (deficiency).

II. INVERTEBRATES
The first hormones were probably neurosecretions. Most of the chemicals functioning
as hormones in invertebrate animals are nuerosecretions called NUEROPEPTIDES. Only a
few of the more complex invertebrates (e.g. mollusks, arthropods, echinoderms) have
hormones other than nuerosecretions.
Almost all of the information about invertebrates pertains to the more highly evolved
groups that will be discussed below, the annelids, echinoderms, mollusks, and most
particularly two classes of arthropods, the insects and crustaceans. Several of the hormones
in invertebrates are neurohormones, that is, they are produced by nerve cells.

PORIFERA
The porifera (sponges) do not have classical endocrine glands. Since sponges do not
have neurons, they also do not have cells.
CNIDARIANS/ COELENTERATA
The nerve cells of the Hydra contain a growth-promoting hormone that stimulates
budding, regeneration and growth (e.g. when the hormone is present in the medium in which
fragments of hydra are incubated, “head” regeneration is accelerated. This so called “head
activator” also stimulates mitosis in hydra).

PLATYHELMINTHS
Zoologists identified nuerosecretory cells in various flatworms over 30 years ago.
These cells are in the cerebral ganglion and along major nerve cords. The nueropeptides that
the cells produce function in regeneration, asexual reproduction, and gonad maturization.
(e.g. nuerosecretory cells in the scolex of some tapeworms control shedding of the
proglottids or the initiation of strobilization.)
NEMERTEANS
Nemerteans have more cephalization than and a larger brain, composed of a dorsal
and a ventral pair of ganglia connected by a nerve ring. The nueropeptide that these ganglia
produce appears to control gonadal development and to regulate water balance.

NEMATODES
Although no classical endocrine glands have been Identified in nematodes, they do
have nuerosecretory cells associated with the central nervous system. The nueropeptides that
this nervous tissue produces apparently controls ecdysis of the old cuticle. The nueropeptide
is released after a new cuticle is produced and stimulates the excretory gland to secrete an
enzyme (leucine aminopeptidase) into the space between the old and new cuticles. The
accumulation of fluid in this causes the old cuticle to split and be shed.

MOLLUSCS
The ring of ganglia that constitutes the central nervous system of molluscs is richly
endowed with nuerosecretory cells. The nueropeptides that these cells produce help regulate
heart rate, kidney function, and energy metabolism.

ANNELIDS
Since annelids have a well developed and cephalized nervous system, a well-
developed circulatory system, and a large coelom, their correspondingly well-developed
endocrine control of physiological functions is not surprising. The various endocrine systems
of annelids are generally involved with morphogenesis. Development, growth, regeneration,
and gonadal maturation. (e.g. in polychaetes, juvenile hormone inhibits the gonads and
stimulates growth and regeneration. Another hormone, gonadotropin, stimulates the
development of eggs. In leeches, a neuropeptide stimulates gamete development and triggers
color changes. Osmoregulatory hormones have been reported in oligochaetes, and a
hyperglycemic hormone that maintains a high concentration of blood glucose has been
reported for the oligochaete Lumbricus.)
ARTHROPODS
The endocrine systems of advanced invertebrates (insects and crustaceans) are
excellent examples of how hormones regulate growth, maturation, and reproduction. Much is
known about hormones and their functioning in these animals. The endocrine system of a
crustacean, such as a crayfish, controls functions such as ecdysis (molting), sex
determination, and color changes.
Insects
Increase in linear dimensions of an insect can only occur at periodic intervals when
the restricting exoskeleton is shed during a process known as molting. Once an insect
becomes an adult, it ceases to molt. The orderly sequence of molts that leads from the newly
hatched insect to the adult is controlled by three hormones. The brain produces a
neurohormone which stimulates a pair of glands in the prothorax, the prothoracic glands,
causing release of the molting hormone, ecdysone. A third hormone, the juvenile hormone,
produced by a pair of glands near the brain, functions during the juvenile molts to suppress
the differentiation of adult tissues. Juvenile hormone permits growth but prevents maturation.
Two neurohormones with antagonistic actions are involved in regulating the water
content of insects. One, the diuretic hormone, promotes water loss by increasing the volume
of fluid secreted into the Malpighian tubules, the excretory organs. The second, the
antidiuretic hormone, acts to conserve water by causing the wall of the rectum to increase the
volume of water resorbed from its lumen while lowering the excretion rate from the
Malpighian tubules.

Bursicon, a protein neurohormone, is responsible for the tanning and hardening of the
newly formed cuticle. During the development of some insects, a period of arrested
development occurs, termed the diapause. The mechanisms controlling the onset and the
termination of diapause are largely unknown. However, in some insects there is evidence for
a hormone, proctodone, that reinitiates development. A very few species of insects, most
notably the stick insect (Carausius morosus), have the ability to change color. This insect
becomes darker at night and lighter by day as a result of the rearrangement of pigment
granules within the epidermal cells. Darkening is due to a hormone produced in the brain.
 Crustaceans
Higher crustaceans have a structure, the sinus gland, which in most stalk-eyed species
lies in the eyestalk and is the storage and release site of a molt-inhibiting hormone. The Y-
organs, a pair of structures found in the anterior portion of the body near the excretory
organs, are the source of the crustacean molting hormone, crustecdysone. Chemically,
crustecdysone is very similar to the ecdysone from insects; both substances can cause
molting in crustaceans and insects. The sinus gland is a neuroendocrine structure, but the Y-
organs are nonneural. Crustacean pigment cells (chromatophores) are under hormonal
control, as in insects. The active substances are released from the sinus glands and the
postcommissural organs, which lie near the esophagus. Substances have been found that
cause dispersion of the pigment within the chromatophore, as well as substances with the
opposite action. The compound eye of crustaceans has three retinal pigments. The
movements of these pigments with illumination level control the amount of light impinging
on the photosensitive cells. A substance has been found that causes the migration of these
pigments toward the light-adapted positions and another substance that causes migration
toward dark-adapted positions. The pericardial organs, which are found near the heart, are
neuroendocrine organs that cause an increase in the amplitude of the heart beat. The sinus
gland contains the hyperglycemic hormone, which causes a rise in blood glucose.
ECHINODERMS
Since echinoderms are deuterostomes, they are more closely allied with chordates
than are the protostome invertebrates. However, the endocrine systems of the echinoderms
provide few insights into the evolution of chordate endocrine systems, because echinoderm
hormones and endocrine glands are very different from those of chordates. Zoologists do
know, however, that the radial nerves of the sea stars contain a neuropeptide called gonad-
stimulating substance. When this neuropeptide is injected into a mature sea star, it induces
immediate shedding of the gametes, spawning behavior, and meiosis in the oocytes. The
neuropeptide also causes the release of a hormone called maturation-inducing substance,
which has various effects on the reproductive system.

III. VERTEBRATES

Vertebrates posses two types of glands (figure 25.7). One type, exocrine (Gr. exo,
outside + krinein, to separate) glands, secrete chemicals into ducts that, in turn, empty into
body cavities or onto body surfaces (e.g. mammary, salivary, and sweat glands). The second
type, endocrine (Gr. endo, within + krinein, to separate) glands, have no ducts, and instead
secrete chemicals messengers, called hormones, directly into the tissue space next to each
endocrine cell. The hormones then diffuse into the bloodstream, which carries them
throughout the body to their target cells.
ENDOCRINE GLANDS IN HUMANS
1.) Pituitary - is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighing 0.5 g (0.02 oz.). It
is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, and
rests in a small, bony cavity (sella turcica) covered by a dural fold
(diaphragma sellae). The pituitary fossa, in which the pituitary gland sits, is
situated in the sphenoid bone in the middle cranial fossa at the base of the
brain It is functionally connected to thehypothalamus by the median
eminence.
Secretion – tropic hormones (stimulates other endocrine glands.) The pituitary gland
secretes hormones regulating homeostasis.
2.) Pineal - The pineal gland (also called the pineal body, epiphysis cerebri, or epiphysis) is a
small endocrine gland in the vertebrate brain. Located near to the centre of the
brain, between the two hemispheres, tucked in a groove where the two rounded
thalamic bodies join.
Secretion – melatonin (a hormone that affects the modulation of wake/sleep patterns
and photoperiodic (seasonal) functions.)

3.) Thyroid gland – situated in each side of the trachea.

Secretion – thyroxin (responsible for the regulation of the rate of oxidation within
the cells).
Hyperfunction – results in the exopthalmic goiter (swelling of gland and speeded
metabolic rate).
Hypofunction – results in cretinism (no growth) in young.
- results in myxedema (mentally and physically lethargic) in adult.
- results in simple goiter (insufficient iodine in the diet so that the gland
compensates for the deficiency by increasing in size).

4.) Parathyroid gland – closely associated with the thyroids.

 Secretion – parathormone (responsible for maintaining normal phosphorus
metabolism)
Hyperfunction – results in soft bones and reduced irritability pf the muscles.
Hypofunction – rare in man

5.) Pancreas – specialized cells in the Islets of Langerhans.

Secretion – insulin (essential for normal glucose metabolism).
Hypofunction – results in high glucose level in the blood, the excess glucose being
excreted by the kidneys (diabetes mellitus). Increased of fat oxidation follows,
causing accumulation of incompletely oxidized fatty acids known as ketone
bodies, which are also excreted through the kidneys.

6.) Adrenals – situated on top of the kidneys.

a.) cortex – produces steroid hormones, namely:
(1) androsterone – affects male sex hormone activity.
(2) cortisone – maintains normal Sodium and Chlorine levels in the blood.
b.) medulla – secretes adrenalin, sometimes referred to as the emergency hormone,
 which increases all metabolic activities, an action similar to that of the
sympathetic nervous system.

7.) Gonads
a.) Testes
Secretion – testosterone (secreted by the interstitial cells; stimulates the
appearance of secondary sexual characteristics of the male).

b.) Ovaries – with secretions which stimulate the appearance of secondary sexual
characteristics of female.
(1) estrogen – from the graafian follicles; initiates the mating instinct and the
cyclical changes in the female genital tract.
(2) progesterone – from the corpus lutuem; helps in the preparation of the
endometrium and implantation of the fertilized ovum. If there is no
fertilization, the endometrium is destroyed and menstrual flow ensues.