What does calcitonin do in the thyroid?
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What is calcitonin? Calcitonin is a hormone that your thyroid gland makes and releases to help regulate calcium levels in your blood by decreasing it. Calcitonin opposes the actions of the parathyroid hormone, which is a hormone that increases your blood calcium levels.
Is calcitonin synthesized by C cells of the thyroid gland?
Calcitonin. Calcitonin is primarily made by the parafollicular cells (also called C cells) of the thyroid gland, although some is made in mammary and placental tissues. Calcitonin acts to decrease calcium concentrations and may play a role in regulating serum magnesium.
What cells in the thyroid secrete calcitonin?

Calcitonin is secreted by the parafollicular cells of the thyroid gland. This hormone opposes the action of the parathyroid glands by reducing the calcium level in the blood.
What do C cells in the thyroid do?
The C cells, or parafollicular cells, of the thyroid gland (indicated by the arrow marked āPā) produce a hormone called calcitonin, which regulates serum calcium levels.

What happens if calcitonin is low?
A lack of calcitonin in the blood may increase a person’s risk of bone degradation and osteopenia, a condition that occurs when the rate in which the body reabsorbs old bone exceeds the rate in which it produces new bone.
What is C cell hyperplasia of thyroid?
C cell hyperplasia of the thyroid was defined in the early 1970’s as a lesion associated with familial medullary thyroid carcinoma and multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN), type II and IIB. It is a genetically defined event associated with ret oncogene mutations of specific codons.
How is calcitonin synthesized and secreted?
calcitonin, also called thyrocalcitonin, a protein hormone synthesized and secreted in humans and other mammals primarily by parafollicular cells (C cells) in the thyroid gland. In birds, fishes, and other nonmammalian vertebrates, calcitonin is secreted by cells of the glandular ultimobranchial bodies.
When is calcitonin hormone secreted?
The secretion of both calcitonin and parathyroid hormone is determined by the level of calcium in the blood. When levels of calcium in the blood increase, calcitonin is secreted in higher quantities. When levels of calcium in the blood decrease, this causes the amount of calcitonin secreted to decrease too.
What gland has parafollicular cells also called clear or C cells that secrete calcitonin if calcium levels rise too high?
the thyroid gland
The parafollicular cells, clear cells, or C cells, of the thyroid gland arise from tissue forming the ultimobranchial bodies in lower vertebrates. They secrete a polypeptide hormone, calcitonin, when blood calcium levels exceed 2.38 mmol/l. Gastrin also stimulates calcitonin secretion.
What do Oxyphil cells secrete?
These results demonstrate that oxyphil cells in secondary parathyroid hyperplasia synthesize and secrete PTH, and that this secretion contributes to the pathophysiology of hyperparathyroidism.
Do C cells produce parathyroid hormone?
In humans, the four parathyroid glands, imbedded in the thyroid gland, secrete the parathyroid hormone (PTH). So-called C cells dispersed throughout the thyroid gland, the parathyroids and thymus secrete another hormone, calcitonin (CT).
What does a Calorigenic effect increase?
The calorigenic effect is a result of the increased metabolic rate and increased oxygen consumption by cells. When the metabolic rate increases, more heat is generated and body temperature rises. Since energy use is measured in calories, this is known as the calorigenic effect.