Question

What are the three mechanisms that control hormone release and a example of each.

Answer 1

The three mechanisms that control hormone release are:

Humoral stimuli: It means the control of the release of the hormone in response to changing the blood fluid and concentration of ions in the blood.

Example: when blood glucose level rises it sends the signal to the pancreas to release insulin, insulin drop the blood glucose level that again signals the pancreas to stop the production of insulin.

Hormonal stimuli: It refers to release of the hormone to stimulate another hormone.

Example: the anterior portion of the pituitary gland is stimulated by the hormone produced by the hypothalamus. the anterior pituitary in turn produces thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), TSH regulates the hormone (T3, T4) produced by another endocrine gland i.e thyroid gland.

Neural stimuli: In this, the endocrine gland is directly stimulated by the nervous system to release the hormone

Example: In stress response, the adrenal gland is directly stimulated by the sympathetic nervous system to release adrenaline and noradrenaline which provides energy that is required by the body to respond.