Size and Location of the Pancreas

The pancreas is a grayish-pink-colored gland about 12 to 15 cm (6-9 inches) long,

weighing about 60 g. It resembles a fish with its head and neck in the C-shaped curve of
the duodenum, its body extending horizontally behind the stomach, and its tail touching
the spleen. According to an old anatomical witticism, the “romance of the abdomen” is
the pancreas lying “in the arms of the duodenum”.

Structure of the pancreas

The pancreas is composed of two different types of glandular tissue, one exocrine
and one endocrine. Most of the tissue is exocrine, with a compound acinar arrangement.
The word acinar means that the cells are in a grapelike formation and that they release
their secretions into a microscopic duct within each unit. The word compound indicates
that the ducts have branches. These tiny ducts unite to form larger ducts that eventually
join the main pancreatic duct, which extends throughout the length of the gland from its
tail to its head. It empties into the duodenum at the same point as the common bile duct,
that is, at the major duodenal papilla. An accessory duct is frequently found extending
from the head of the pancreas into the duodenum, about 2 cm above the major papilla.
Imbedded between the exocrine units of the pancreas, like so many little islands,
lie clusters of endocrine cells called pancreatic islets. Although there are about million
of these tiny islands, they constitute only about 2% of the total mass of the pancreas.
Special staining techniques have revealed that several kinds of cells- mainly alpha cells
and beta cells- make up the islets. They are secreting cells, but their secretion passes into
blood capillaries rather than into ducts. Thus the pancreas is a dual gland- an exocrine, or
ductless, gland because of the pancreatic islets.

Functions of the Pancreas

The acinar units of the pancreas secrete the digestive enzymes found in pancreatic
juice. Hence, the pancreas plays an important part in digestion.
Beta cells of the pancreas secrete insulin, a hormone that exerts a major control
over carbohydrate metabolism.
Alpha cells secrete glucogan. It is interesting to note that glucogan, which is
produced so closely to insulin, has a directly opposite effect on carbohydrate metabolism.
Neurohypophysis (posterior pituitary)

The neurohypophysis serves as a storage and release site for two hormones:
antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and oxytocin (OT). The cells of the neurohypophysis,
called pituicytes, do not themselves make these hormones. Instead, neurons whose bodies
are in either the supraoptic or the paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus synthesize
them. From the cell bodies of these neurons in the hypothalamus, the hormones pass
down along axons into the neurohypophysis. Instead of the chemical-releasing factors
that triggered secretion of hormones from the adenohypophysis, release of ADH and OT
into the blood is controlled by nervous stimulation.
Antidiuretic hormone

The term antidiuresis literally means “opposing the production of a large urine
volume.” And this is exactly what antidiuretic hormone (ADH) does- it prevents the
formation of a large volume of urine. In preventing large losses of fluid through the
excretion of dilute urine, ADH helps the body conserve water. In other words, ADH
causes water retention in the body. ADH produces its effects by causing a portion of each
tubule in the kidneys to reabsorb water from the urine it has formed. When body
dehydrates, the increased osmotic pressure of the blood is detected by special
osmoreceptors near the supraoptic nucleus. This triggers the release of ADH from the
neurohypophysis. ADH causes water to be reabsorbed from the tubules of the kidneys
and returned to the blood. This increases the water content of the blood, restoring the
osmotic pressure to its normal lower level.
The Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus is the inferior division of the diencephalon. It forms the

inferolateral walls of the third ventricle. On the underside of the brain, it lies between the
optic chiasma and the posterior boarder of the mamillary bodies. The mamillary bodies
are rounded bumps that bulge from the hypothalamic floor. The pituitary gland also
projects inferiorly from the hypothalamus. These gland secretes many hormones. The
hypothalamus, like the thalamus, contains about a dozen nuclei of gray matter.
Functionally, the hypothalamus is the main visceral control center of the body, regulating
many activities of the visceral organs. Its functions include the following:
1. Control of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the
system of peripheral motor neurons that regulates contraction of smooth and
cardiac muscle and the secretion of glands. The hypothalamus exerts control over
the autonomic neurons. In doing so, it regulates heart rate and blood pressure,
movement of the digestive tube, the secretion of sweat glands and salivary
glands, and many other visceral activities.
2. Center for emotional response. The hypothalamus lies at the center of the
emotional part of the brain, the limbic system. Regions involved in pleasure, rage,
sex drive, and fear have been located in the hypothalamus.
3. Regulation of body temperature. The body’s thermostat is in the hypothalamus.
Some hypothalamic neurons sends blood temperature that initiate the body’s
cooling or heating mechanisms as needed.
4. Hunger and thirst centers. By sensing the concentrations of nutrients and salts
in the blood, certain hypothalamic neurons mediate feelings hunger and thirst.
5. Sleep-wake cycles. Acting with other brain regions, the hypothalamus helps
regulate the complex phenomenon of sleep. The hypothalamus is responsible for
the timing of sleep cycle. The nuclei involved seem to be the suprachiasmatic
nucleus above the optic chiasma and the preoptic nucleus anterior to that. The
suprachiasmatic nucleus is the body’s biological clock, regulating many daily
rhythms. It receives information on daylight-darkness cycles from the eye through
the optic nerve, then sends signals to the preoptic nucleus. In response to such
signals, the preoptic nucleus induces sleep.
6. Control of the endocrine system. The hypothalamus controls the secretion of
hormones by the pituitary gland, which intern regulates many functions of the
visceral organs.