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Thyroid
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The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped organ that sits in front of the trachea, just below the larynx, at the front of the neck. The middle part, the isthmus, is the butterfly's body, and on either side are the right lobe and the left lobe, which are the wings. Embedded in each lobe, mostly toward the back, are the parathyroid glands.
Inside, it is made almost entirely of thyroid follicles. Each follicle is a round cavity filled with a sticky fluid called colloid and surrounded by a wall of epithelial follicular cells. That colloid is where thyroid hormone is produced, and making it requires iodine. That is why the thyroid is one of the few organs whose work depends on a mineral that comes from food.
In brief
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped organ that sits in front of the trachea, just below the larynx.
Its middle region, the isthmus, is flanked by the wing-shaped right and left lobes, and the parathyroid glands are embedded in each lobe.
Its tissue is made up mostly of thyroid follicles, each a cavity filled with a sticky fluid called colloid and surrounded by epithelial follicular cells. The colloid is where thyroid hormone is produced, and that production depends on iodine.
Sources (1)
- OpenStax, Rice UniversityAnatomy and Physiology 2e, 17.4 The Thyroid Gland
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