| Gland | Location(s) | Hormone(s) Produced | Normal Physiologic Effects | Effects of Hypersecretion | Effects of Hyposcretion |
| Gonads (female) | Pelvic cavity | Estrogens and progesterone | Secondary sex characteristics at puberty, menstrual cycle | - | - |
| Gonads (male) | Suspended in a pouchlike sac, the scrotum, outside the pelvic cavity | Testosterone | Secondary sex characteristics at puberty, libido | - | - |
| Thymus | Superior thorax, posterior to the sternum and anterior to the heart and lungs | Thymosin and thymopoietin | Help direct the maturation and specialization of T lymphocytes, or T cells | - | - |
| Pancreas | Partially behind the stomach in the abdomen | Digestive enzymes as well as insulin and glucagon | Glucagon acts antagonistically to insulin to keep the blood glucose levels balanced Glucose Level balance | Insulin: hypoglycemia | Insulin: diabetes mellitus |
| Anterior Pituitary | Concavity of the sella turcica of the sphenoid bone | Four tropic hormones:
-Gonadotropins - follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH)
-Adrenocorticotropic hormone ( ACTH)
- Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), or thyrotropin
AND
-Growth hormone (GH)
-Prolactin (PRL) | FSH/LH:
Regulate gamete production and hormonal activity of gonads
ACTH:
Regulate endocrine activity of cortex portion of adrenal gland
TSH:
Influence growth and activity of thyroid gland
GH:
Growth of muscle and long bones
PRL:
Lactation | GH: Causes gigantism in children and acromegaly (overgrowth of bones in hands, feet, and face) in adults | GH: Pituitary dwarfism in children |
| Posterior Pituitary | Concavity of the sella turcica of the sphenoid bone | Oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone (ADH) | Oxytocin:
Stimulates powerful uterine contractions during birth and coitus and also causes milk ejection in the lactating mother
ADH:
Causes the distal and collecting tubules of the kidneys to reabsorb more water from the urinary filtrate | ADH: Edema, headache, and disorientation | ADH: Dehydration from excessive urine output, a condition called diabetes insipidus |
| Pineal | Roof of the third ventricle of the brain | Melatonin | Biological rhythms | - | - |
| Thyroid | Throat, just inferior to the larynx | Thyroid Hormone and Calcitonin | Control the rate of body metabolism and cellular oxidation | Elevated metabolic rate, nervousness, weight loss, sweating, and irregular heartbeat | A condition of mental and physical sluggishness, which is called myxedema |
| Parathyroid | Posterior surface of the thyroid gland | Parathyroid hormone (PTH) | Causes release of calcium from bone matrix and prods the kidney to reabsorb more calcium and less phosphate from the filtrate. Also stimulates the kidneys to activate vitamin D | Loss of calcium from bones, causing deformation, softening, and spontaneous fractures | Increases neural excitability and may lead to tetany, prolonged muscle spasms that can result in respiratory paralysis and death |
| Adrenal Medulla | Atop or close to the kidneys | Epinephrine (80%) or norepinephrine (20%) | Elicit the fight-or-flight response to stressors | - | - |
| Adrenal Cortex | Atop or close to the kidneys | Three major groups of steroid hormones, collectively called corticosteroids:
-mineralocorticoids, chiefly aldosterone
-glucocorticoids (cortisone, hydrocortisone, and corticosterone)
-gonadocorticoids, or sex hormones | Mineralocorticoids:
Regulate water and electrolyte balance in the extracellular fluids
Glucocorticoids:
Enable the body to resist long-term stressors
Gonadocorticoids:
Chiefly androgens produced, but some estrogens | Hypersecretion of gonadocorticoids produces abnormal hairiness (hirsutism), and masculinization occurs | - |
