| Exocrine gland | |
|---|---|
| Latin | glandula exocrina |
| Code | TH H2.00.02.0.03014 |
Exocrine glands are a type of ductal glands that secrete their products (including digestive enzymes, and some hormone chemical messengers) into ducts that lead directly into the external environment. They are the counterparts to endocrine glands, which secrete their products (hormones) directly into the bloodstream (ductless glands) or release hormones (paracrines) that affect only target cells nearby the release site.
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Typical exocrine glands include sweat glands, salivary glands, mammary glands, stomach, liver, pancreas. (An example of an endocrine gland is the adrenal gland, which is found on top of the kidneys and secretes the hormone adrenaline, among others).
There are many ways of classifying exocrine glands:
Exocrine glands contain a glandular portion and a duct portion, the structures of which can be used to classify the gland.
Exocrine glands are named apocrine gland, holocrine gland, or merocrine gland based on how their product is secreted.
Glands typically may be referred to by two or more means, though some terms are rarely seen. The names of the anatomists who first described them are often employed, as:
| Name(s) | Location | Product | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apocrine sweat glands | skin | coiled tubular | |
| Bartholin's glands, Tiedmann's glands, vulvovaginal glands | vulva, vagina | ||
| Bauhin's glands, anterior lingual glands | tongue, near tip | nonserous or mixed | |
| Brunner's glands, duodenal glands | duodenum | mucous | compound tubular |
| Bulbourethral glands, Cowper's glands, Mery's glands | penis, base | Pre-ejaculate | |
| Ciaccio's glands, accessory lacrimal glands | eye | ||
| Cobelli's glands | esophagus, just above the cardia, in the mucosa | mucous | |
| Duverney's gland | vagina, on either side | ||
| Ebner's glands | tongue | serous | |
| Eccrine sweat glands | skin | coiled tubular | |
| Esophageal glands | esophagus | mucous | racemose |
| Exocrine pancreas | pancreas | serous | tubulo-acinar |
| Fränkel's glands | vocal cords, below the edge | ||
| Gastric chief cell, Wasmann's glands | stomach | serous | |
| Glomus coccygeum, coccygeal gland, Luschka's gland or gangliona | coccyx, near the tip | ||
| Goblet cells | digestive tract, respiratory tract | mucous | simple unicellular |
| Henle's glands | eyelids, in the conjuctiva | tubular | |
| Huguier's glands | vagina | ||
| Krause's glands | conjunctiva, middle portion | mucous | |
| Lieberkuhn's glands | intestines, surface of mucous membrane | simple tubular | |
| Littré's glands, Morgagni's glands | spongy portion of the urethra | racemose | |
| Mammary gland | breast | compound tubulo-acinar | |
| Meibomian gland | eyelids | sebaceous | |
| Moll's glands | eyelids | ||
| Montgomery's glands | mammary areola | sebaceous | |
| Naboth's glands | cervix and os uteri | mucous | |
| Olfactory glands, Bowman's glands | nose, olfactory region | ||
| Paneth cells | small intestine | serous | |
| Gley's glands, Sandstroem's glands | |||
| parotid gland | mouth | serous | tubulo-alveolar |
| Peyer's patches (or glands) | ileum, lymphatic glands | ||
| Prostate | surrounds the urethra just below the urinary bladder | ||
| Pyloric glands | stomach | mucous | simple branched tubular |
| Sebaceous gland | skin | sebum | acinar - branched |
| Skene's glands, Guérin's glands | vagina | ||
| Sublingual gland, Rivini's gland | mouth | mucus (primarily) | tubulo-alveolar |
| Submandibular gland | mouth | mixed (M+S) | tubulo-alveolar |
| Sudoriparous glands, Boerhaave's glands | skin | ||
| Sigmund's glands | epitrochlear lymph nodes | ||
| Suzanne's gland | mouth, beneath the alveolingual groove | mucous | |
| Weber's glands | tongue | mucous | tubular |
| Glands of Zeis | eyelids, free edges | sebaceous |
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