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The neuroendocrine system is a highly complex and tightly controlled network of hormones released by endocrine glands throughout the body. The levels of some of the hormones are regulated in a fairly straightforward manner by the end products that they influence. Thus, blood sugar levels primarily regulate insulin and glucagon release by the pancreas. Other hormones (e.g., those of the HPA, HPG, and HPT axes) are parts of hormone cascades whose activities are controlled through elaborate feedback mechanisms. In addition, numerous indirect interactions exist between the various hormone systems governing body functioning. For example, hormones such as GH and thyroid hormone, through their effects on cellular metabolism, may modify blood sugar levels and, accordingly, insulin release. Similarly, alcohol’s effects on one hormone system may have indirect consequences for other systems, thereby contributing to alcohol’s influences on the functioning of virtually every organ in the body. It is important to keep this interconnectedness of neuroendocrine systems in mind when analyzing alcohol’s impact on various hormones, which are described in the remaining articles in this issue. / Hormone System: As this article has indicated in describing the various endocrine glands and their hormones, some hormones are controlled directly by the metabolic pathways that they influence. For example, blood sugar levels directly control insulin and glucagon release by the pancreas, and calcium levels in the blood regulate PTH release. Conversely, many hormones produced by target glands are regulated by pituitary hormones, which in turn are controlled by hypothalamic hormones. Examples of such regulatory hormonal cascades include the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroidal (HPT) axis, which are described briefly in the following section