Human digestive system gland in the digestive system. It is both an endocrine gland and an exocrine gland. The endocrine part secretes insulin when the blood sugar becomes high; insulin moves glucose from the blood into the muscles and other tissues for use as energy. The endocrine part releases glucagon when the blood sugar is low; glucagon allows stored sugar to be broken down into glucose by the liver in order to re-balance the sugar levels. The pancreas produces and releases important digestive enzymes in the pancreatic juice that it delivers to the duodenum. The pancreas lies below and at the back of
Hypopituitarism secretes a number of releasing hormones, often according to a circadian rhythm, into blood vessels that supply the anterior pituitary; most of these are stimulatory (thyrotropin-releasing hormone, corticotropin-releasing hormone, gonadotropin-releasing hormone and growth hormone-releasing hormone), apart from dopamine, which suppresses prolactin production. In response to the releasing hormone rate, the anterior pituitary produces its hormones (TSH, ACTH, LH, FSH, GH) which in turn stimulate effector hormone glands in the body, while prolactin (PRL) acts directly on the breast gland. Once the effector glands produce sufficient hormones (thyroxine, cortisol, estradiol or testosterone and IGF-1), both the hypothalamus and the pituitary cells