Nature | All enzymes are protein (exception is ribozyme) | Hormones are derivative of protein, amino acids, and steroids. |
Molecular weight | Higher molecular weight. | Lower molecular weight. |
Role | Enzymes are the catalyst, which enhances the biochemical reactions. | Hormones are the chemical messenger that provide signals to the cell for performing the particular function. |
Carrier | Enzymes act at the place where they are formed. | Hormones are carried by the blood to different part of the body for giving signals to the cell. |
Diffusibility | Enzymes are non-diffusable through a cell membrane. | Hormones are diffusable through the cell membrane. |
Site of Action | Enzymes perform their action on the site(place) where they are produced. | Hormones perform their action to the different place from where they are produced and are carried by the blood. |
Origin | Enzymes are produced in exocrine glands. | Hormones are produced in endocrine glands. |
Factors affecting | Enzymes perform in particular temperature, pH. | No effect of pH or temperature or pH, but sometimes effected by external factors. |
Specificity | Enzymes are substrate specific i.e. depends on the substrate to perform the function. | Hormones are target cell specific and depend on positive and negative feedback mechanism. |
Metabolic activity | Enzymes take part in metabolism. | Hormones regulate the metabolic activity i.e. while giving signals to the cell for performing various body functions. |
Effect of age | Enzymes have no effect of age. | Hormonal changes can be seen with age like puberty, menopause. |
Dependency | Enzymes start performing only when it get the message from hormone. | Hormones do not depend on an enzyme. |
Occurrence of Disease | Comparatively fewer chances of occurrence of diseases, and are only due to insufficiency | Hormonal disorders are very common, and even a single wrong message sent to the cell may give rise to life-long disease or disorders. |
Utility | Enzymes can be reutilized after their function as they are the catalyst and remain unchanged. | Hormones cannot be reutilized once their function is over, they naturally get destroyed. |
Examples | Oxidoreductase, Transferase,Hydrolase etc. | Insulin, Glucagon, Thyroid (T3, T4). |