Back Hipofise Afrikaans غدة نخامية Arabic Hipofiz Azerbaijani هیپوفیز AZB Гіпофіз Byelorussian Мазгавы прывесак BE-X-OLD Хипофиза Bulgarian পিটুইটারি গ্রন্থি Bengali/Bangla ཀླད་པའི་འཕྱང་གཟུགས་ Tibetan Hipofiza BS
 | This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. (September 2023) |
| Pituitary gland | |
|---|---|
 Lateral view | |
 Lateral view of hypothalamus–pituitary complex | |
| Details | |
| Precursor | Neural and oral ectoderm, including Rathke's pouch |
| System | Endocrine system |
| Artery | Superior hypophyseal artery, infundibular artery, prechiasmal artery, inferior hypophyseal artery, capsular artery, artery of the inferior cavernous sinus[1] |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | hypophysis cerebri, glandula pituitaria |
| MeSH | D010902 |
| NeuroLex ID | birnlex_1353 |
| TA98 | A11.1.00.001 |
| TA2 | 3853 |
| FMA | 13889 |
| Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy | |
The pituitary gland or hypophysis is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, the pituitary gland is located at the base of the brain, protruding off the bottom of the hypothalamus. The human pituitary gland is oval shaped, about 1 cm in diameter, 0.5–1 gram (0.018–0.035 oz) in weight on average, and about the size of a kidney bean.[2][3]
There are two main lobes of the pituitary, an anterior lobe, and a posterior lobe joined and separated by a small intermediate lobe. The anterior lobe (adenohypophysis) is the glandular part that produces and secretes several hormones. The posterior lobe (neurohypophysis) secretes neurohypophysial hormones produced in the hypothalamus. Both lobes have different origins and they are both controlled by the hypothalamus.
Hormones secreted from the pituitary gland help to control growth, blood pressure, energy management, all functions of the sex organs, thyroid gland, metabolism, as well as some aspects of pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, water/salt concentration at the kidneys, temperature regulation, and pain relief.
- ^ Gibo H, Hokama M, Kyoshima K, Kobayashi S (1993). "[Arteries to the pituitary]". Nippon Rinsho. 51 (10): 2550–4. PMID 8254920.
- ^ Hall, John E.; Guyton, Arthur C. (2011). Guyton and Hall textbook of medical physiology (12th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Saunders/Elsevier. p. 895. ISBN 9781416045748.
- ^ Standring, Susan (2016). Gray's anatomy: the anatomical basis of clinical practice (41st ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier. p. 499. ISBN 9780702052309. Digital version.