Merocrine

{{Short description|Secretory mechanism}}

{{Exocrine secretion}}

File:405 Modes of Secretion by Glands Merocine.png

Image:Histology of paneth cells, annotated.jpgs, located at the base of the crypts of the small intestinal mucosa, and displaying merocrine secretion of bright red cytoplasmic granules. H&E stain.]]

Merocrine (or eccrine) is a term used to classify exocrine glands and their secretions in the study of histology. A cell is classified as merocrine if the secretions of that cell are excreted via exocytosis from secretory cells into an epithelial-walled duct or ducts and then onto a bodily surface or into the lumen.

Merocrine is the most common manner of secretion. The gland releases its product and no part of the gland is lost or damaged (compare holocrine and apocrine).

The term eccrine is specifically used to designate merocrine secretions from sweat glands (eccrine sweat glands),[http://www.aad.org/education/students/glands.htm Eccrine and Apocrine Glands] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090405055554/http://www.aad.org/education/students/glands.htm |date=2009-04-05 }} Donald J. Baker, M.D., and Warren R. Heymann, M.D. American Academy of Dermatology. Retrieved on April 18, 2010 although the term merocrine is often used interchangeably.{{Citation|last1=Melo|first1=Angel I.|title=Chapter Fifteen - Communication by Olfactory Signals in Rabbits: Its Role in Reproduction|date=2010-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0083672910830158|journal=Vitamins & Hormones|volume=83|pages=351–371|editor-last=Litwack|editor-first=Gerald|series=Pheromones|publisher=Academic Press|language=en|doi=10.1016/s0083-6729(10)83015-8|access-date=2020-10-23|last2=González-Mariscal|first2=Gabriela|pmid=20831954 |url-access=subscription}}{{Citation|last1=Lombardini|first1=Eric D.|title=Chapter 44 - Radiation and Other Physical Agents|date=2013-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124157590000443|work=Haschek and Rousseaux's Handbook of Toxicologic Pathology (Third Edition)|pages=1421–1503|editor-last=Haschek|editor-first=Wanda M.|place=Boston|publisher=Academic Press|language=en|doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-415759-0.00044-3|isbn=978-0-12-415759-0|access-date=2020-10-23|last2=Pacheco-Thompson|first2=Michelle E.|last3=Melanson|first3=Mark A.|editor2-last=Rousseaux|editor2-first=Colin G.|editor3-last=Wallig|editor3-first=Matthew A.|url-access=subscription}}