Question

How is that the release of anterior pituitary gland hormones regulated?

Answer 1

Hint: The anterior pituitary gland gland produces six major hormones: (1) prolactin (PRL), (2) somatotropin (GH), (3) adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), (4) LH (LH), (5) FSH (FSH), and (6) thyrotropin (TSH) (Table 401e-1).

Complete answer:
Hormone secretion from the anterior pituitary gland gland is regulated by hormones secreted by the hypothalamus. Neuroendocrine cells within the hypothalamus project axons to the median eminence, at the bottom of the brain. At this site, these cells can release substances into small blood vessels that travel on to the anterior pituitary gland gland (the hypothalamo-hypophyseal portal vessels).

Aside from hypothalamic control of the anterior pituitary gland , other systems within the body are shown to manage the anterior pituitary’s function. GABA can either stimulate or inhibit the secretion of LH (LH) and somatotropin (GH) and may stimulate the secretion of thyrotropin (TSH).

Prostaglandins are now known to inhibit adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and also to stimulate TSH, GH and LH release. GABA, through action with the hypothalamus, has been shown experimentally to influence the extent of GH secretion. Clinical evidence supports the experimental findings of the excitatory and inhibitory effects GABA has on GH secretion, hooked into GABA’s site of action within the hypothalamic-pituitary unit.

Note: The anterior pituitary gland plays a task in stress response. Corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) from the hypothalamus stimulates ACTH release during a cascading effect that ends with the assembly of glucocorticoids from the cortex .