Secretion concept - Definition

The word secretion comes in its etymology of the Latin "secret" that designates the action and effect of segregating or removing a substance.It is the living beings or their cells that carry out this process, in a normal or pathological way.Cells are the ones that make up living beings by themselves or by their secretions (exocytosis).The Golgi apparatus in eukaryotic cells secretes waste substances outside the cell.

The cells make chemical substances that then go outside, are secreted, and can be wastes or perform functions as occurs with hormones.In the digestive process, for example, enzymes are secreted (complex proteins that serve to break down food) The disseminated glands in the mucosa of the small intestine secrete intestinal juice.The bile secretion contains bile salts that are made by the liver and are used for the absorption of fat digestion products.The pancreatic juice is secreted by acini pancreatic and intervenes in the immediate principles of digestion.

Glands are sets of cells that produce substances that then release.They can be endocrine when the secretion product is released in the capillaries that are released into the capillaries that the glands are surrounded, for example, the pituitary gland; or exocrines whose secretions go outside as happens with sweat glands.

The nose secretes a mucous substance in the presence of colds, flu, allergic rhinitis or bacterial infections.

In women, and in general in mammals' females, the secretion of milk through the nipples is natural at the time of breastfeeding when a child has been had.Sometimes there is usually secretion from other causes, such as inflammations, medication, injuries or tumors.