title: [C-cells of the thyroid gland].
abstract: In the human thyroid gland, the C-cell system reacts in physiologic and pathologic conditions as an entity and represents an independent endocrine organ. Its special features are its embryology, which relates it to other derivatives of the neural crest, the special histologic methods needed to demonstrate its disseminated C cells, and the obscure physiologic role of its hormone, calcitonin. Although there exist many histopathologic findings, the only C-cell disease of clinical interest is medullary carcinoma, which in its familial form is usually associated with pluriglandular syndromes.
mesh_terms: D002116:Calcitonin / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D010001:Osteitis Deformans / Q000188:drug therapy; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000166:cytology*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D002116:Calcitonin; D000242:Cyclic AMP
vernacular_title: C-Zellen der Schilddrüse.