Adrenal medulla

Adrenal medulla
Medulla labeled at bottom right.
Gray's	subject #277 1280
Artery	superior suprarenal artery, middle suprarenal artery, Inferior suprarenal artery
Vein	suprarenal veins
Nerve	celiac plexus, renal plexus
Lymph	lumbar glands
Precursor	Neural crest

Medullary part of the adrenal gland (on the pointer).

The adrenal medulla is part of the adrenal gland. It is located at the center of the gland, being surrounded by the adrenal cortex.

Basic

The adrenal medulla consists of irregularly shaped cells grouped around blood vessels. These cells are intimately connected with the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. In fact, these adrenal medullary cells are modified postganglionic neurons, and postganglionic autonomic nerve fibers lead to them directly from the central nervous system.

Function

Composed mainly of hormone-producing chromaffin cells, the adrenal medulla is the principal site of the conversion of the amino acid tyrosine into the catecholamines adrenaline (epinephrine), noradrenaline (norepinephrine), and dopamine.

In response to stressors such as exercise or imminent danger, medullary cells release catecholamines into the blood in a 17:3 ratio of adrenaline to noradrenaline.^[1]

Notable effects of adrenaline and noradrenaline include increased heart rate and blood pressure, blood vessel constriction in the skin and gastrointestinal tract, blood vessel dilation in skeletal muscles, bronchiole dilation, and decreased metabolism, all of which are characteristic of the fight-or-flight response. Release of catecholamines is stimulated by nerve impulses, and receptors for catecholamines are widely distributed throughout the body.

Origin

Medullary cells are derived from the embryonic neural crest and, as such, are simply modified neurons.

In particular, they are modified postganglionic cells of the sympathetic nervous system that have lost their axons and dendrites, receiving innervation from corresponding preganglionic fibers.

Moreover, as the synapses between pre- and postganglionic fibers are called ganglia, the adrenal medulla is actually a ganglion of the sympathetic nervous system.

Pathology

Neoplasms including:

• Pheochromocytoma (most common) a catecholamine-secreting tumor of the adrenal medulla
• Neuroblastoma a neuroendocrine tumor of any neural crest tissue of the sympathetic nervous system
• Ganglioneuroma a tumor in the nerve cells of the peripheral nervous system

See also

• Adrenal gland

References

External links

• SUNY Labs 40:04-0202 - "Posterior Abdominal Wall: Blood Supply to the Suprarenal Glands"
• Anatomy Atlases - Microscopic Anatomy, plate 15.292 - "Adrenal Gland"
• Location of Adrenal medulla