Skip to main content

Endocrine Gland Responsiveness

Meaning

Endocrine Gland Responsiveness is the measure of an endocrine gland’s capacity to detect and react appropriately to its specific upstream regulatory signals, typically trophic hormones released from the pituitary or hypothalamus. This crucial physiological parameter quantifies the efficiency of the gland’s receptor population and its biosynthetic machinery to produce and secrete its target hormone. For instance, assessing adrenal responsiveness to ACTH or gonadal responsiveness to LH/FSH is fundamental in diagnosing primary versus secondary endocrine dysfunction.