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The Pituitary-Thyroid Regulatory System

  • Chapter
Control of the Thyroid Gland

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 261))

Abstract

The pituitary thyroid regulatory system is a classical example of a hypothalamic-pituitary-endocrine gland feedback loop. As one of the earliest such systems recognized and one which has proven to be so useful clinically, it has been widely studied. The critical elements in the system are shown in the diagram in Figure 1. The best recognized level of feedback regulation is that of thyroid hormone on pituitary thyrotropin (TSH) production. However, results of recent studies reviewed below demonstrate conclusively that there is also feedback regulation of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) synthesis by thyroid hormone. This complex system is exquisitely sensitive to changes in ambient thyroid hormone levels and serves to maintain the serum hormone concentration in an extremely narrow range in a given individual.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Thyroid Division, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    P. Reed Larsen

  2. Department of Medicine Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    P. Reed Larsen

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  1. P. Reed Larsen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Göteborg, Göteborg, Sweden

    Ragnar Ekholm

  2. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Leonard D. Kohn  & Seymour H. Wollman  & 

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© 1989 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Larsen, P.R. (1989). The Pituitary-Thyroid Regulatory System. In: Ekholm, R., Kohn, L.D., Wollman, S.H. (eds) Control of the Thyroid Gland. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 261. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2058-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2058-7_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-2060-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-2058-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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