ABSTRACT
Basic Principles of Anterior Pituitary Hormone Secretion Several overarching principles govern the neuroendocrine control of AP hormone secretion (see Reichlin, 1992, for review). First, the regulation by the brain of AP secretion is mediated through the release of the hypothalamic hormones into the hypothalamohypophyseal portal vascular link between hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland. Upon reaching the appropriate endocrine cells of the AP via the vasculature, the hypothalamic hormones act via their specific receptor and intracellular signaling mechanisms to inhibit or stimulate the secretion of their cognate AP hormone. Second, the secretion of both the hypothalamic and cognate pituitary hormones is episodic; such an intermittent secretory pattern is apparently essential for the expression of the respective biological activities of these hormones.
