Human Anatomy and Physiology : Systems Physiology

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Human Anatomy and Physiology

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Example Questions

Example Question #2 : Help With Hormone Effects

Which of the following is not an effect of testosterone in the body?

Possible Answers:

Maintaining the epiphyseal plate in adulthood

Growth spurt during puberty

Sperm cell production

Development of secondary sex characteristics

Correct answer:

Maintaining the epiphyseal plate in adulthood

Explanation:

While testosterone is associated with the growth spurt during puberty, it is also responsible for the closing of the epiphyseal plates on long bones. This process helps stop the growth in length of the body.

Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and is secreted by Leydig cells of the testes. Testosterone is a steroid hormone, meaning it can enter cells and act directly on DNA as a transcription factor. In this way, it mediates the production of sperm, anatomical growth, and development of secondary sex characteristics in males.

Example Question #3 : Help With Hormone Effects

Which of the following hormones would be elevated in the body while high glucose levels are present in the blood?

Possible Answers:

Insulin

Glucagon

Thyroxine

Cortisol

Correct answer:

Insulin

Explanation:

Remember that hormones are generally slow-acting in the body. Glands will respond to the conditions of the body by elevating hormones in a negative feedback fashion. If a person has high blood glucose levels, it is expected that the body is going to increase hormones that act to lower the blood glucose levels.

Insulin is responsible for stimulating glucose sequestration for use in cell metabolism or storage in the liver as glycogen. As a result, insulin levels would be elevated in a person with high blood sugar levels.

Glucagon is functional antagonist of insulin, and serves to elevate blood glucose levels through glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis. Cortisol is released by the adrenal cortex in response to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and long-term stressors, such as prolonged hunger, thirst, and heat/cold exposure. Thyroxine (T4) is a thyroid hormone that mediates basal metabolic rate and is released in response to thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).

Example Question #4 : Help With Hormone Effects

Which of the following is not a function of thyroid hormone?

Possible Answers:

Increase protein synthesis

Increase blood pressure

Stimulate brain maturation

Increase basal metabolic rate

Stimulate bone growth

Correct answer:

Increase blood pressure

Explanation:

Thyroid hormone is secreted by the thyroid and plays a role in bone growth, neural maturation, and the body's basal metabolic rate. It is released in response to thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) from the anterior pituitary, and targets cells throughout the body. Hypothyroidism is characterized by reduced synthesis of thyroid hormones, and can present as weight gain, fatigue, and sensitivity to cold.

Cortisol, a hormone secreted by the adrenal gland, functions to maintain blood pressure by upregulating the number of alpha-1 receptors on arterioles.

Example Question #5 : Help With Hormone Effects

Hypersecretion of growth hormone during childhood results in which of the following conditions?

Possible Answers:

Dwarfism, where the individual has normal face and body proportions in relation to his or her size

Gigantism, where the individual has normal face and body proportions in relation to his or her size

Gigantism, where the individual has abnormal face and body proportions in relation to his or her size

Acromegaly, where the individual has abnormal face and body proportions in relation to his or her size

Acromegaly, where the individual has normal face and body proportions in relation to his or her size

Correct answer:

Gigantism, where the individual has normal face and body proportions in relation to his or her size

Explanation:

Hypersecretion, or oversecretion, of the growth hormone during childhood can typically result in gigantism. The person will be very tall and have normal face and body proportions; the growth plates are still present at this time and they all receive a larger amount of the hormone. 

Dwarfism would be a result of hyposecretion, or undersecretion, of growth hormone during childhood. 

Acromegaly is caused by hypersecretion of growth hormone, but during adulthood as opposed to childhood. 

Example Question #24 : Hormone Physiology

What is the main effect of vasopressin?

Possible Answers:

Water reabsoption

Milk production

Lymphocyte development

Milk ejection

Correct answer:

Water reabsoption

Explanation:

Vasopressin, also known as antidiuretic hormone, is released by the posterior pituitary and targets the kidney for water reabsorption. Milk production is controlled by prolactin. Milk ejection is an effect of oxytocin. Lastly, the thymosin and thymopoietin are responsible for lymphocyte development. 

Example Question #6 : Help With Hormone Effects

What is the function of erythropoietin?

Possible Answers:

Red blood cell production

Milk production

Electrolyte homeostasis

Stress response

Correct answer:

Red blood cell production

Explanation:

Erythropoietin acts on red bone marrow to increase the amount of red blood cells being produced. Aldosterone is responsible for electrolyte homeostasis via the excretory system. Cortisol is the hormone associated with stress response, and regulates blood glucose levels. Lastly, prolactin is responsible for milk production.

Example Question #7 : Help With Hormone Effects

What is the major action of antidiuretic hormone (ADH)?

Possible Answers:

Increase calcium reabsorption 

Increase water absorption from the kidneys 

Stimulate milk production 

Decrease calcium reabsorption 

Decrease water absorption from the kidneys 

Correct answer:

Increase water absorption from the kidneys 

Explanation:

ADH inserts special channels into the collecting ducts of the kidney that allow for water absorption from the fluid that is destined to become urine. An increasing amount of ADH would decrease the amount of urine voided from a person as more water is being absorbed in the distal convoluted tubule and collecting ducts of the kidneys. ADH also constricts arterioles everywhere in the body, which increases the peripheral resistance and arterial pressure. 

Example Question #8 : Help With Hormone Effects

What is the function of erythropoietin? 

Possible Answers:

None of these

To increase blood glucose 

To decrease the production of red blood cells 

To increase the production of red blood cells 

To increase the production of white blood cells 

Correct answer:

To increase the production of red blood cells 

Explanation:

Erythropoietin is a glycoprotein that increases the production of red blood cells. Erythropoietin is secreted by the kidneys and liver, and activates red bone marrow to induce hematopoiesis.

Example Question #9 : Help With Hormone Effects

Which is not an effect of the hormone oxytocin?

Possible Answers:

It stimulates milk ejection.

It establishes maternal behavior.

It develops and regulates the female reproductive system.

It stimulates uterine contractions during childbirth.

Correct answer:

It develops and regulates the female reproductive system.

Explanation:

Oxytocin has many effects in the body. First, it stimulates contraction of the myoepithelial cells which surround mammary alveoli in the mammary gland. This causes milk to be ejected. Oxytocin is also released during labor and works to enhance uterine contractions in order to facilitate birth. Lastly, oxytocin is widely known as the "bonding hormone," and studies show that its presence establishes maternal behavior. Oxytocin does not, however, form and regulate the female reproductive system; this is done by the female sex hormone, estrogen.

Example Question #21 : Systems Physiology

A baseball player is taking exogenous steroids for 1 year. Which of the following organs will be suppressed? 

Possible Answers:

Lungs

Kidneys

Liver

Heart

Adrenal glands

Correct answer:

Adrenal glands

Explanation:

Steroids, when taken exogenously, diminish the production of steroids in the body. This can lead to atrophy of the adrenal glands (responsible for producing cortisol-stress steroid hormone). Thus, when patients are taking steroids for whatever reasons (sports, chemo, infection and etc) it is important for the steroids to be tapered off and not removed immediately since the body needs time to begin to reproduce the hormone again. 

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