Hormone Review Table: Study with Video Lessons, Practice Problems & Examples

The endocrine system comprises various glands that secrete hormones, each with specific functions. Key glands include the anterior pituitary, which produces tropic hormones like FSH and LH, and the thyroid, responsible for metabolic hormones such as thyroxine. The pancreas regulates blood glucose through insulin and glucagon, while adrenal glands manage stress responses via epinephrine and cortisol. Understanding these hormones and their roles is crucial for grasping metabolic processes and homeostasis in the body.

Review of Major Hormones

If you're following along with the downloadable PDF that we provide with these videos, you'll see that we've included this review page here. And on this page, you'll see that we have the glands of the endocrine system, the major hormones they produce, and in basic terms, what those hormones do in the body. Now like anything, what level of detail you need to know and exactly what hormones you're going to be responsible for, that's going to be dependent on your class and your professor. But here, we're giving you sort of a basic list that most classes cover. And if you know all this, you're at least very much on your way to knowing the hormones of the endocrine system. So, let's take a look. Before we really dive in, let's just orient ourselves to the page here. You'll see that we have actually 7 different tables here, each one talking about 1 gland or pair of glands and the hormones they produce. In each one of these tables, you'll see we have an image of the gland, the name of the gland, and then we have a little icon of a brain with a memory tool telling you a way to help remember what those produce or generally what they do in the body. And then finally, we have the list of hormones and in basic terms, what they do. Now you also see there's some color coding here. If the hormone is in a bluish gray background, that means it is an amino acid-based hormone. If the hormone, the 3 in the bottom right there, is in a yellow background, that means that it is a steroid hormone. So with that, let's look at the anterior pituitary gland. I will start here, and we're going to go down the left side of the page first. So the anterior pituitary gland, we can see this is the pituitary gland here, and we've color-coded the pituitary in this light brown there, the anterior pituitary in light brown. And we can see it's right below the hypothalamus, and it's connected by this hypothalamic, hypophysial portal system, those blood vessels that are right there. Now our memory tool to remember the hormones produced by the anterior pituitary gland was FLAT PEG, and each one of those letters represents or stands for one of the hormones that's going to be produced by this gland. And remember that word flat, those first four, those were the tropic hormones produced by the anterior pituitary gland. So, the f, that stood for follicle-stimulating hormone or FSH. Now, as a tropic hormone, FSH is going to influence the release of sex hormones. And so likewise, it's also involved in sperm formation and egg development. The l, well, that stood for luteinizing hormone, or LH. Luteinizing hormone, also going to have target cells in the gonads, and it's going to stimulate the release of sex hormones. Next, we had the a, and the a stood for adrenocorticotropic hormone. Remember, this one, we can really break down this word. It's a tropic hormone, so it causes the release of other hormones, causes the release of hormones from the adrenocortico, the adrenal cortex. So we're going to say here, it stimulates the release of hormones in the adrenal cortex. Next, we had the t. The t stood for thyroid-stimulating hormone or TSH. And thyroid-stimulating hormone, well, it tells you exactly what it does. It stimulates the secretion of thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland. And then next, we have the p. We're starting our next word here, p and peg. The p stands for prolactin, and prolactin can be abbreviated PRL sometimes. This one, again, we can break down this word, lactin, that had to do with lactation or making milk, and pro it's for lactation. So we're going to say that it stimulates milk production. And then our final letter here, the g the g stood for growth hormone or GH, And growth hormone, again, it says what it does. We're going to say here it increases cell division, especially in the bones and in cartilage during development. Alright. We're going to move down our page here, and next, we will look at the posterior pituitary gland. So the posterior pituitary gland, we can see here, part of the pituitary gland, but now we have this rear section, the posterior section, color-coded in pink. And remember, this serves as almost like an extension of that hypothalamus up here. We can see this hypophyseal. I'm sorry. Hypothalamic, hypophyseal tract, these neurons that come down, and this posterior pituitary really acts as an extension of that hypothalamus. It's actually made of that nervous tissue. Now our memory tool here, I said powerful antioxidant. And powerful, well, the PO reminded me that it's the posterior pituitary, and the anti reminds me of antidiuretic hormone or ADH. Now remember, a diuretic is something that causes you to make more urine or put more water into your urine. So if it's antidiuretic, it does the opposite. So we have a little down arrow there, signifying that it's going to decrease urine production, or in other words, it's going to increase. And I'll just do an up arrow there. Increase the water in the blood. Alright. Ox and oxidant, that reminds me of the hormone oxytocin. Now oxytocin, this was a hormone that initiates uterine contractions during labor. It's spelled uterine there. Uterine has an e on the end. Uterine contractions during labor, and it also stimulates the release of milk from the breast during nursing. Alright. We're going to go down, and we'll look at the last hormone on the left side of the page here. And this is the last gland that's sort of up there in the head. We're looking at the pineal gland. Pineal gland, this small gland sort of in the back of the brain there. And my memory tool for this one is that the pineal gland, when my kids won't go to sleep, I say, hey, go to sleep, pinhead. And pinhead reminds me that the pineal gland is in the head, and it regulates sleep. Now the hormone that gets produced well, that's going to be melatonin. So we're going to say here regulates sleep/wake cycle sleep wake cycle, that circadian rhythm. And I remember that because, well, melatonin is sold as a supplement to help you sleep. So I know melatonin is associated with sleep because I know people that take it to help them sleep, and it's a hormone that regulates your sleep. Alright. We'll go back up to the top of the page here, and we will look over on the right-hand side here at the thyroid and parathyroid glands. So the thyroid gland, this sort of bigger gland here in your neck, this sort of butterfly-shaped gland. And then the parathyroid glands, you have 4 of them sort of right on the thyroid gland there. And to remember what these are doing, I say the thyroid has to do with calcium and carbs. Now when I think carbs, I'm thinking like real metabolic activity. These are some gonna be some of the most important metabolic proteins. And the calcium, it's going to regulate the amount of calcium in your blood. Now we have the thyroid and parathyroid glands here together. You really should know what makes what and how they're different from each other, but it's really easy to remember which hormones made by the parathyroid gland, so we put them in one table for that reason. Alright. So our first, we're gonna talk about thyroxine or T4, also sometimes just called thyroid hormone, and this triiodothyronine or T3. These are the major metabolic hormones. Major metabolic hormones regulating all sorts of stuff with metabolism. Now thyroxine, T4, that's again thyroid hormone. That's the more common one. This triiodothyronine, it's less likely you need to be able to say that out loud or say the whole thing, but it does help me remember this iodo in the middle. Iodine is important for the thyroid gland. Alright. As I go down, we have calcitonin. Calcitonin also is going to be produced by the thyroid gland, and calcitonin is going to decrease the amount of calcium in the blood. Now remember, when we want to decrease the amount of calcium, we use our bones as sort of like a storage place for calcium. So this causes calcium to be removed from the blood and do be put into the bones. Now we got a note. Calcitonin, your body makes it, and we know this is what it does, But it's unclear how metabolically relevant or how physiologically relevant rather it is in humans. If you don't make any calcitonin, you're actually just fine. So it's not entirely clear how much it's doing in your body. Next, we have parathyroid hormone, and parathyroid hormone is the hormone made by the parathyroid gland. Now that's why I link these together because you can remember this one's different because it's named after the gland, but it is linked to something that the thyroid hormone does. It does the opposite of that calcitonin. It's going to increase the amount of calcium ions in the blood. A release of parathyroid hormone indicates your body to take some calcium out of the bones and put it into the blood. Alright. That's the thyroid and parathyroid glands. We'll now go down and look at the pancreas. Here we have the pancreas drawn out here, this sort of longish yellow gland that's sort of tucked in by the stomach. Pancreas, our memory tool for this is that the pancreas is covered in glue. Pancreas covered in glue, and that stands for insulin and glucagon. So these both these hormones are going to be involved in regulating your blood sugar or your blood glucose levels. Insulin is going to lower blood sugar or blood glucose levels, and it's going to do that by taking glucose in the blood and causing things like the liver to turn it into glycogen and put it in storage. Now glucagon is going to work in the opposite way. It's going to tell your body to increase your blood sugar or to increase your blood glucose levels. It's going to do that by saying, hey. That glycogen or in the liver or in fat cells, take it out and turn it into glucose. Alright. Next up, we have the adrenal glands. Adrenal glands well, we have the whole kidneys drawn here. The kidneys and the adrenal glands though are these yellow things sort of sitting like hats on top of the kidneys. Those are the adrenal glands. And the way I remember this is, well, adrenal reminds me of adrenaline, and I know that I release adrenaline when I get stressed. Right? Adrenaline is has to do with stress. So really, a lot of what the adrenal glands are doing has to do with stress. Now our first hormone, that's epinephrine. Epinephrine is another name for adrenaline. We also have norepinephrine, a related hormone, and both these are gonna be part of the fight or flight response. Right? We all know what adrenaline rush feels like. We gotta get that body up and going. It's when we think we are in real serious danger, and we need to run or fight. Now the other thing that we're gonna release here are these glucocorticoids, and, chief among those is going to be cortisol. Now glucocortisol glucocorticoids, excuse me, and cortisol are both gonna be part of this stress response. But typically, when we think of these, we're thinking about a sort of slightly longer term stress response. We're thinking about responding to stress less about running away from something, and more changing things like metabolic activity in response to stress. All right. Finally, we're gonna go down and we will look at the gonads. So gonads, the ovaries, and the testes, and we have illustrated here on the left. We have the female reproductive system, we have the ovaries here, and we have the testes as part of the male reproductive system. And for a memory tool, I just remember that the gonads are part of the reproductive system. And as part of the reproductive system, that means that they make sex hormones. And the sex hormones, we have estrogen and progesterone. Those are usually thought of as the female specific hormones. I'm going to draw the little female symbol there. Female sex hormones, and then we have testosterone, and testosterone is usually considered the male specific sex hormone. Though we should always be clear, males and females both all make estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone just at different levels, And it's the estrogen and that testosterone during development that leads to either feminization or masculinization of the body. Alright. Again, those are the hormones. Knowing this table, I cannot guarantee that that is everything that you need to know for your course, but you should be well on your way if you know all this information. We're going to practice some more and examples and practice problems. I'll see you there.

Hormone Review Table Example 1

This example wants us to match the hormone to the gland that produces it. And in my experience, this is something you're very likely going to be responsible for, so let's give it a practice. Now we have a memory tool for each one of these glands to help you remember what hormones they produce. Remember, if you don't need the memory tool, don't spend time learning it. But if you need it, it's there for you to help remember things. So let's give it a try. We have a, insulin. What produces insulin? Well, my memory tool there is that the pancreas is covered in glue. Insulin and glucagon are made by the pancreas, so I'm going to put an a on pancreas. Insulin and glucagon work together to regulate the amount of glucose in the blood. Insulin specifically causes your body to lower the amount of blood glucose by producing glycogen. Alright.

Next we have oxytocin. You remember what makes oxytocin? Well, oxytocin, I have the memory tool, a powerful antioxidant. Powerful reminded us that it's the posterior pituitary that makes antidiuretic hormone and oxytocin. So I'm putting my b on posterior pituitary right there. Remember, oxytocin is responsible for stimulating labor contractions and also stimulating the release of milk from the breast. Alright.

Next we have melatonin. Well, melatonin, my memory tool for that. Well, when my kids won't go to bed, I say, hey, go to bed, pinhead. Melatonin is responsible for regulating sleep, and it's the pineal gland that releases it. Now remember that melatonin is responsible for regulating sleep because people sell melatonin as a supplement to help you sleep. So c, melatonin, that is going on the line for pineal gland. There we go. I'm crossing out melatonin.

Next, we have calcitonin. Do you remember what makes calcitonin? Well, my memory tool for this one is that the thyroid and the parathyroid glands together are responsible for calcium and carbs. Carbs being the fact that the thyroid hormone is making T4 and T3, those major metabolic hormones, but it's also making calcitonin. And calcitonin works to lower the amount of calcium in your blood. Though, we should note, it's not really clear how physiologically relevant it is in humans, but it is made by the thyroid gland. So down here we have the thyroid and parathyroid. I'm gonna put a D there.

Now, you probably almost certainly should know the difference between what is made in a thyroid and the parathyroid. They're sort of listed there together. But knowing what the parathyroid makes is very easy to remember. We'll get to that in a second. And the other stuff in that sort of grouping is made by the thyroid. Alright.

Next, we have the growth hormone. You remember what makes growth hormone? Well, growth hormone is the g in that memory tool, flat peg. And that memory tool is to help you remember what the anterior pituitary makes. So here we have anterior pituitary I'm going to put an e on that line. Growth hormone made by the anterior pituitary.

Next, we have progesterone. What makes progesterone? Well, progesterone is one of the sex hormones. It's usually considered one of the female-specific sex hormones, and those sex hormones are going to be made by the gonads. Ovaries in females, testes in males, so I'm going to put an f on the line here for gonads. Now I just do also want to note though, sex hormones are also made in the adrenal cortex. They're made there at lower levels. And if you need to know 1, right, know that sex hormones are made in the gonads. But I am just, you know, for correctness, gonna put an F in parentheses there next to the adrenal glands, because the adrenal glands do produce progesterone, though at a lower level. Alright. Crossing out progesterone.

And then finally, we have parathyroid hormone. Well, parathyroid hormone. Right? I said it's really easy to remember what the parathyroid gland makes. It makes parathyroid hormone. So parathyroid hormone. I'm gonna put a g on this line here. Made by the parathyroid gland. And parathyroid hormone works to raise blood calcium levels by instructing your body to take some calcium out of the bones. Alright.

So that's matching some of our hormones. You should practice matching all of them and remember what makes what. We'll continue looking at this and practice problems to follow. I'll see you there.

Which hormone is NOT produced by the gonads?

• A. Testosterone.
• B. Prolactin.
• C. Estrogen.
• D. Progesterone.

Which hormone is derived from tryptophan and helps regulate circadian rhythm?

• A. Epinephrine.
• B. Thyroxine.
• C. Melatonin.
• D. Growth hormone.

Here’s what students ask on this topic:

What are the major hormones produced by the anterior pituitary gland and their functions?

The anterior pituitary gland produces several key hormones, often remembered by the mnemonic FLAT PEG. These include:

• Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH): Influences the release of sex hormones and is involved in sperm formation and egg development.
• Luteinizing Hormone (LH): Stimulates the release of sex hormones from the gonads.
• Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH): Stimulates the release of hormones from the adrenal cortex.
• Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH): Stimulates the secretion of thyroid hormones from the thyroid gland.
• Prolactin (PRL): Stimulates milk production in the mammary glands.
• Growth Hormone (GH): Increases cell division, especially in bones and cartilage during development.

How do the hormones insulin and glucagon regulate blood glucose levels?

Insulin and glucagon, produced by the pancreas, play crucial roles in regulating blood glucose levels. Insulin lowers blood glucose by promoting the uptake of glucose into cells and stimulating the liver to convert glucose into glycogen for storage. Conversely, glucagon increases blood glucose levels by signaling the liver to break down glycogen into glucose and release it into the bloodstream. This balance ensures that the body maintains stable blood sugar levels, crucial for energy and metabolic functions.

What is the role of the adrenal glands in the body's stress response?

The adrenal glands, located atop the kidneys, are essential for managing the body's stress response. They produce hormones like epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine, which are involved in the immediate 'fight or flight' response, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and energy availability. Additionally, they secrete glucocorticoids, such as cortisol, which help manage longer-term stress by altering metabolism, reducing inflammation, and aiding in the body's adaptation to stress. These hormones collectively prepare the body to handle stressful situations effectively.

What hormones are produced by the thyroid and parathyroid glands, and what are their functions?

The thyroid gland produces thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), which are major metabolic hormones regulating metabolism. It also produces calcitonin, which decreases blood calcium levels by promoting calcium storage in bones. The parathyroid glands produce parathyroid hormone (PTH), which increases blood calcium levels by stimulating the release of calcium from bones into the bloodstream. Together, these hormones play vital roles in metabolism and calcium homeostasis.

What is the function of melatonin, and which gland produces it?

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland, located in the brain. It plays a crucial role in regulating the sleep-wake cycle, also known as the circadian rhythm. Melatonin levels typically rise in the evening, promoting sleep, and decrease in the morning, helping to wake the body. This hormone is often used in supplement form to aid with sleep disorders and jet lag.