Endocrinology

ENDOCRINOLOGY CONCEPTS FOR MEDICAL
STUDENTS
H. Maurice Goodman

Advan in Physiol Edu 25:213-224, 2001.
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ENDOCRINOLOGY CONCEPTS
FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS
H. Maurice Goodman
Department of Physiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655

ADV PHYSIOL EDUC 25: 213–224, 2001.

WHAT IS ENDOCRINOLOGY?
Theexplosive growth of information in endocrinology made possible by unprecedented advances in
technology and by expansion of the number of investigators engaged in endocrinological research presents a difficult and growing challenge to those of us
who teach endocrine physiology to medical students.
The scope of research has so extended the boundaries of endocrinology and blurred the distinctionsamong disciplines that even defining endocrinology is
problematic. Additionally, it has become increasingly
difficult to decide what should be taught to first-year
medical students and in what context. Regulation of
cellular functions by hormones represents only a subset of the larger field of chemical communication that
includes aspects of neurobiology, cell biology, immunology, and developmentalbiology. From the perspective of the target cell, what we call a hormone is
quite arbitrary. Cellular and molecular processes associated with production, secretion, and actions of
hormones are no different from actions of hundreds
of other paracrine and autocrine factors, immunomodulators, neurotransmitters, growth factors, and
so forth. The exquisite sensitivity of molecular biological toolshas uncovered hormone production
and hormone receptors in the most unexpected
places. A host of nonendocrine tissues produce
some of the same molecules secreted by the classic
endocrine glands and use them to serve as local
paracrine modulators or neurotransmitters. It is
now apparent that hormones act on many more
cells than their classically defined targets and that
virtually everytissue in the body participates in
some endocrine function.

●

Regulation of sodium and water balance: preservation of the volume/pressure reservoir required for
tissue perfusion

●

Regulation of calcium balance: preservation of extracellular fluid concentrations required for membrane integrity, intracellular signaling, hemostasis,
etc., and preservation of skeletal integrity

●Regulation of energy balance: preserving, accessing, and interconverting metabolic fuels to meet
cellular energy demands

●

Coordination of processes for coping with a hostile
environment

●

Coordination of growth and development

1043 - 4046 / 01 – $5.00 – COPYRIGHT © 2001 THE AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY
VOLUME 25 : NUMBER 4 – ADVANCES IN PHYSIOLOGY EDUCATION – DECEMBER 2001

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