{"term":{"id":"11094","title":"pituitary","longtitle":"IUPAC Gold Book - pituitary","doi":"10.1351\/goldbook.11094","code":"11094","status":"current","synonym":"<em>synonyms<\/em>: hypophysis, pituitary gland","definitions":[{"id":1,"text":"Small endocrine gland sitting in a bony cavity (the sella turcica) at the base of the brain and connected to the hypothalamus.","notes":{"1":"The pituitary is structurally and functionally divided into anterior and posterior lobes. The anterior lobe secretes growth hormone (somatotropin), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), adrenocortocotropic hormone (ACTH), prolactin (PRL), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). The posterior lobe develops from the hypothalamus and secretes oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone (ADH) (also called arginine vasopressin (AVP)). An intermediate lobe (indistinct in humans) secretes melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH)."},"links":[{"term":"adrenocortocotropic hormone","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/10346"},{"term":"antidiuretic hormone","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/11360"},{"term":"endocrine","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/10657"},{"term":"follicle-stimulating hormone","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/10730"},{"term":"gland","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/10767"},{"term":"growth hormone","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/10783"},{"term":"hypothalamus","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/10833"},{"term":"luteinizing hormone","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/10903"},{"term":"oxytocin","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/11061"},{"term":"prolactin","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/11139"},{"term":"sella turcica","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/11201"},{"term":"somatotropin","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/11230"},{"term":"thyroid-stimulating hormone","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/11307"}],"sources":["PAC, 2016, 88, 713. 'Glossary of terms used in developmental and reproductive toxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2016)' on page 792 (https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1515\/pac-2015-1202)"]}],"altoutputs":{"html":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/11094\/html","xml":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/11094\/xml","plain":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/11094\/plain"},"citation":"Citation: 'pituitary' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351\/goldbook.11094","license":"The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/) for individual terms.","collection":"If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .","disclaimer":"The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.","accessed":"2026-04-18T01:54:14+00:00"}}