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Briefly discuss the adrenal gland.

      

Briefly discuss the adrenal gland.

  

Answers


Martin
They consist of two organs each located anterior to the kidney. Each gland is divided into

i)cortex and

ii)medulla.

The cortex has three zones:

-The outer zona glomerulosa which is relatively narrow

-The middle zona fasciculata which is relatively wide and consist of cells arranged in columns.

-The inner zona reticularis which is adjacent to the adrenal medulla.

The cortex produces two major types of steroid hormones:

a)mineralocorticoids

Mineralocorticoids play important role in electrolyte balance and therefore are important in regulation of blood pressure. The main mineralocorticoid is aldosterone. The main target cells of mineralocorticoids are the distal tubules of kidneys. They promote sodium retention (reabsorption) and potassium and hydrogen secretion (excretion). The effect of this is the maintenance of normal blood pressure.

Glucocorticoids: The major one is cortisol.

The main specific effect of glucocorticoids is the stimulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis which involves conversion of amino acids to CHO. The net effect is an increase in hepatic glycogen and a tendency to increase blood glucose levels. Protein synthesis is inhibited, in fact, protein catabolism is enhanced, leading to increase in amino acids. This process supports gluconeogenesis.

Glucocorticoids can be used clinically to suppress inflammatory response, including prevention of capillary dilation, extravasation of fluid into tissue spaces, leukocyte migration, fibrin deposition, and connective tissue synthesis. This prevents replacement of functional tissue with fibrous connective tissue, with a resultant loss of function.

marto answered the question on April 16, 2019 at 08:40


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