Editing Neuroendocrine cell (section)

{{Short description|Type of glandular cell found in brain}}
{{refimprove|date=October 2015}}
'''Neuroendocrine cells''' are cells that receive neuronal input (through [[neurotransmitter]]s released by nerve cells or neurosecretory cells) and, as a consequence of this input, release messenger molecules ([[hormones]]) into the blood. In this way they bring about an integration between the [[nervous system]] and the [[endocrine system]], a process known as '''neuroendocrine integration'''. An example of a neuroendocrine cell is a cell of the [[adrenal medulla]] (innermost part of the [[adrenal gland]]), which releases [[epinephrine|adrenaline]] to the blood. The adrenal medullary cells are controlled by the [[sympathetic nervous system|sympathetic division]] of the [[autonomic nervous system]]. These cells are modified [[postganglionic neuron]]s. Autonomic nerve fibers lead directly to them from the central nervous system. The adrenal medullary hormones are kept in vesicles much in the same way neurotransmitters are kept in neuronal vesicles. Hormonal effects can last up to ten times longer than those of neurotransmitters.{{Citation needed|reason=How do we know this is the case?|date=January 2015}} Sympathetic [[nerve]] fiber impulses stimulate the release of adrenal medullary hormones. In this way the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system and the medullary secretions function together.

The major center of neuroendocrine integration in the body is found in the [[hypothalamus]] and the [[pituitary gland]]. Here hypothalamic neurosecretory cells release factors to the blood. Some of these factors ([[releasing hormone]]s), released at the hypothalamic [[median eminence]], control the secretion of pituitary hormones, while others (the hormones [[oxytocin]] and [[vasopressin]]) are released directly into the blood.

[[APUD]] cells are considered part of the neuroendocrine system, and share many staining properties with neuroendocrine cells.