Library · Anatomy
Posterior pituitary
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The posterior pituitary, also called the neurohypophysis, is the back part of the pituitary gland. It comes from neuroectoderm, the tissue that the nervous system arises from, and two hormones are released from it: antidiuretic hormone and oxytocin.
The curious part is that it does not make them. The hypothalamus, a region of the brain, synthesizes them; from there the hormones travel inside the axons, the long extensions of neurons, and are stored in the Herring bodies until it is time to release them. It is a warehouse with a loading dock: nothing is made here, only stored and shipped out. That is not what happens with the hormones of the anterior pituitary: those are not stored.
Each one arises in a different place in the hypothalamus, antidiuretic hormone in the supraoptic nuclei and oxytocin in the paraventricular nuclei. Together they regulate water retention and induce contraction of the uterus.
In brief
The posterior pituitary, or neurohypophysis, is the part of the pituitary that comes from neuroectoderm and releases antidiuretic hormone and oxytocin.
It does not make them: the hypothalamus synthesizes them, and they travel down axons to be stored in Herring bodies until release, unlike anterior pituitary hormones.
It is a warehouse with a loading dock: nothing is made here, only stored and shipped out.
Antidiuretic hormone arises in the supraoptic nuclei and oxytocin in the paraventricular nuclei; together they regulate water retention and induce uterine contraction.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Posterior Pituitary, StatPearlsPublished
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