The gland has to play an important role when it comes to taking out the stuff that body does not require. Several of them exist within the human body, but the two main categories of them exist as the following Exocrine glands and the endocrine glands.
The main difference between Exocrine glands and endocrine glands becomes apparent on a simple look. The first type of glands known as the ones that produce the substances and then secrete them out with the help of a duct onto the epithelial surface. Second types of glands referred to the ones that produce the materials and then secrete them out to the bloodstream instead of the epithelial surface.
Comparison Chart
| Basis | Exocrine Glands | Endocrine Glands |
| Definition | The ones that produce the substances and then secrete them out with the help of a duct onto the epithelial surface. | The ones that produce the materials and then secrete them out to the blood stream instead of the epithelial surface. |
| Job | Help in ensuring that whenever something that the body does not require, and move it out. | Help to keep the human body going and produce hormones that take care of the human metabolism. |
| Other Tasks | Secretion and excretion of substances that become excess within the human. | Development of body, the strength, and growth of bones, features of the tissue, muscle making, sexual activities. |
| Carrier | Short term activities | Long term developments |
| Examples | Adrenal glands, sweat glands, mammary glands, sebaceous glands, mucous glands, salivary glands, ceruminous glands | Hypothalamus glands, parathyroid glands, thyroid gland, pancreas, ovaries, testicles. |
Definition of Exocrine Glands
These types of glands become known as the ones that produce the substances and then secrete them out with the help of a duct onto the epithelial surface. To explain it more, whenever something that the body does not require, it wants to move out. Several ways of such moving out objects exist and they include the bowel movements and vomiting. But to make the action happen, some glands exist within the body, and the exocrine is one of them.
The main types of glands that fall in such a category include the sweat glands, mammary glands, sebaceous glands, mucous glands, salivary glands, ceruminous glands among others. These parts have a structure that includes a glandular portion and a duct portion; the latter one may be branched together or separate, whereas the first one may be in the tube form or acinar form. Some cases, where the structure is a mixture of both also occurs, so it depends on the individual and their internal organs.
When we want to classify them on the excretion method, we have three categories. The first one, called the merocrine secretion during which the cells move out the substance they do not require the help of the exocytosis process. The second one called the apocrine secretion where the portion which has the secretion just moves out of the body and falls. The final one, holocrine secretion where the entire cell dies just to the extreme the material it contains. Several other ways to define them also exist.
Definition of Endocrine Glands
These types of glands become known as the ones that produce the substances and then secrete them out to the bloodstream instead of the epithelial surface. They play a significant role in many activities that keep the human body going and produce hormones that take care of the human metabolism, their development of body, the strength and growth of bones, functions of the tissue, muscle making, sexual activities, and even the sleeping, mood swings, and reproduction.
Some of the main types of such glands include the adrenal glands, hypothalamus glands, parathyroid glands, thyroid gland, pancreas, ovaries, testicles among others. The functions of some of them and how they work may help in understanding the term even more. All of them get related to each other in some way. Each one has a different structure and the way of acting but always have to act on their own and as a combination.
Diseases also occur due to endocrine glands, and that happens only when either insufficient or excess amount gets added in the bloodstream. Producing hormones becomes real activity, and that leads to performing any other tasks that require the generation. Main errors include the permissiveness where the hormones start to wear off in the absence of another type. Synergism happens whenever two or more of them have the same effect and overdose the body. Antagonism occurs whenever one of them acts opposite to the other to dilute the effect of each other.
Key Differences between Exocrine Glands and Endocrine Glands
- Exocrine glands become known as the ones that produce the substances and then secrete them out with the help of a duct onto the epithelial surface. Whereas, Endocrine glands become referred to like the ones that produce the materials and then secrete them out to the bloodstream instead of the epithelial surface.
- Exocrine glands help in ensuring that whenever something that the body does not require, and it wants to move out happens in a natural manner. On the other hand, the endocrine glands help to keep the human body going and produce hormones that take care of the human metabolism.
- Taking care of the short term activity is what the exocrine glands do, whereas taking care of the long-term processes within the body becomes the job of endocrine glands.
- An exocrine gland plays the main role in secretion and excretion of substances that become excess within the human whereas the central function of endocrine stays the development of body, the strength, and growth of bones, features of the tissue, muscle making, sexual activities and even the sleeping, mood swings, and reproduction.
- Some of the original examples of exocrine glands include the sweat glands, mammary glands, sebaceous glands, mucous glands, salivary glands, ceruminous glands among others. Some of the main types of endocrine glands include the adrenal glands, hypothalamus glands, parathyroid glands, thyroid gland, pancreas, ovaries, testicles among others.