Question

Describe the structure of the mammary glands.

Answer 1

Mammary glands:

1. The mammary glands are glandular organs located on the chest.
2. The fundamental components of the mammary gland are the alveoli which are lined with milk-secreting epithelial cells.
3. The mammary gland structure is divided into three parts: the skin, the parenchyma, and the stroma.
4. Skin: It consists of a nipple and areola.
5. It is wrapped by myoepithelial cells.
6. These alveoli form clusters called lobules, each containing a lactiferous duct, which flows into the opening of the nipple.
7. Myoepithelial cells can contract similarly to muscle cells, so milk is pushed from the alveoli through the lactiferous ducts to the nipple.
8. Here it accumulates in the widening of the tubules.
9. Essentially, a suckling baby presses milk out of these sinuses.
10. A simple mammary gland contains all the milk-secreting tissue that leads to a single lactiferous duct, and a complex mammary gland, containing all the simple mammary glands, serves as a nipple.
11. Normally, humans have two complex mammary glands, one found in each breast, and 10-20 simple glands in each complex mammary gland.

Hormone responsible are:

1. Estrogen is the female sex hormone produced in the adrenal glands, ovaries and fatty tissue, which is mainly responsible for the development of breasts in puberty.
2. Hormone responsible for the production of milk in mammary gland is prolactin.
3. Oxytocin is responsible for milk ejection from the mammary glands after childbirth.