MCQ · Q2
Q.Oxytocin and vasopressin, though released from the posterior pituitary, are actually synthesised by neurosecretory cells of the
(a) Anterior pituitary
(b) Hypothalamus
(c) Pineal gland
(d) Thyroid gland
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Unlike the anterior pituitary, which itself manufactures its six hormones, the posterior pituitary does not synthesise any hormone of its own. Oxytocin and vasopressin (ADH) are actually produced by neurosecretory cells in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus; these cells send long axons down the infundibulum into the posterior pituitary, where the two hormones are stored at the axon terminals and released into the blood only when the appropriate nervous signal (e.g. suckling, for oxytocin; a rise in blood osmotic concentration, for vasopressin) arrives.
[!ANSWER]
(b) Hypothalamus
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