Q.Describe the structure of the pituitary gland (anterior and posterior parts) and discuss the hormones secreted by each part along with their principal functions.

[!TLDR]

Anterior pituitary secretes GH/TSH/ACTH/FSH/LH/prolactin under hypothalamic control; posterior pituitary releases hypothalamus-made oxytocin/vasopressin.

[!ANSWER]

Anterior: GH, TSH, ACTH, FSH, LH, prolactin (all synthesised there). Posterior: oxytocin, vasopressin (synthesised in hypothalamus, only stored/released here).

The pituitary gland lies in the sella turcica at the base of the skull, connected to the hypothalamus above by the infundibulum. Its anterior part (adenohypophysis) is a true glandular tissue containing distinct hormone-secreting cell types, and secretes six hormones under hypothalamic releasing/inhibiting-hormone control: growth hormone (GH), stimulating overall body growth; thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), stimulating thyroid hormone secretion; adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), stimulating adrenal cortex (cortisol) secretion; follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), stimulating spermatogenesis/follicle growth; luteinising hormone (LH), stimulating testosterone secretion/ovulation; and prolactin, stimulating milk production. Its posterior part (neurohypophysis) is neural tissue that synthesises no hormone of its own; it stores and releases, on nervous signal, two hormones actually made by hypothalamic neurosecretory cells whose axons terminate there: oxytocin, stimulating uterine contraction during childbirth and milk ejection during suckling, and vasopressin (ADH), increasing water reabsorption by the kidney. A small pars intermedia between the two lobes, largely fused with the anterior lobe in adults, contributes melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH), regulating skin pigmentation.

[!ANSWER]

Anterior: GH, TSH, ACTH, FSH, LH, prolactin (all synthesised there). Posterior: oxytocin, vasopressin (synthesised in hypothalamus, only stored/released here).

Structure the answer in two clear halves matching the two lobes, and for each hormone name both its principal target and its principal action -- note explicitly that only the anterior lobe SYNTHESISES its hormones, while the posterior lobe only stores/releases hormones made elsewhere.

Describing oxytocin and vasopressin as being 'produced by' the posterior pituitary -- they are produced by the hypothalamus and only stored and released from the posterior pituitary, an important structural distinction from the anterior lobe's six genuinely self-synthesised hormones.