@dr.bioforever: The thyroid gland is in the front of the neck, (right below the Adam's apple). Besides being a very important regulator of body metabolism, the thyroid is also mesmerizingly beautiful under the microscope. . Those big round structures that you see in the video are the colloid follicles of the thyroid, which are filled with a gel-like substance that contains a lot of thyroglobulin protein. The layer of cells surrounding these colloid follicles use thyroglobulin as the raw material to synthesize the thyroxine (T4), and triiodothyronine (T3) hormones. The final touch to make these important hormones is the mineral iodine. If the thyroid gland does not have enough iodine available for the synthesis of thyroid hormones, the production of T3 and T4 will be compromised and this will cause physiological problems. This is why iodine is added to table salt. A simple way for everyone to consume enough iodine! . Since T3 and T4 hormones play such important roles in metabolism, any situation that makes the thyroid produce too little of these hormones (hypothyroidism) will make the metabolism of the patient too low; and any situation that makes the thyroid produce too much of these hormones (hyperthyroidism) will make the metabolism of the patient too high. . Some cells (C cells) in the thyroid gland produce an additional hormone called calcitonin. Calcium is very important for lots of physiological processes in the body (not just to build bones). But having a lot more calcium than needed is not good for the body either, so when the levels of calcium in the body are too high, the hormone calcitonin is released by the thyroid and this hormone will target different parts in the body to get rid of the excess of calcium. . Attached to the thyroid gland there is another endocrine gland called the parathyroid gland (we usually have 4 of these little glands). The parathyroid glands are incredibly important for our physiology. They produce a hormone called PTH. Believe it or not, if your calcium levels in blood are too low, your body will shut down completely because calcium is super important for the nervous system to function, for muscles to contract, etc. So, when calcium levels in the body are too low, the parathyroid gland releases PTH and this hormone will signal to different parts of the body so that the body saves calcium and also gets more calcium in any way it can (this includes getting calcium from your own bones!). . By the way, did you notice all the blood capillaries in the super magnified view of the parathyroid tissue by the end of the video? . For this video I used a Leica ZOOM 200 stereoscope and an Olympus BX41 microscope at up to 1000x magnification. #microscopy #microscope #physiology #thyroid #parathyroid #histology #endocrinology #drbioforever

Adolfo Sánchez-Blanco, Ph.D

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Friday 10 May 2024 12:52:09 GMT