The endocrine system is a system of glands that involve the release of extracellular signaling molecules known as hormones. The endocrine system is instrumental in regulating metabolism, growth, development and puberty, and tissue function and also plays a part in determining mood. The field of study that deals with disorders of endocrine glands is endocrinology, a branch of the wider field of internal medicine.

The endocrine system is an information signal system much like the nervous system. However, the nervous system uses nerves to conduct information, whereas the endocrine system mainly uses blood vessels as information channels. Glands located in many regions of the body, for example the testis, release into the bloodstream specific chemical messengers called hormones.

Hormones regulate many functions of an organism, including mood, growth and development, tissue function, and metabolism. The typical mode of cell signaling in the endocrine system is endocrine signaling. However, there are also other modes, i.e., paracrine, autocrine, and neuroendocrine signaling.

Purely neurocrine signaling between neurons, on the other hand, belongs completely to the nervous system.

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