What organ functions as both an endocrine and exocrine organ?
The Pancreas acts as both an exocrine gland and an endocrine gland.
The Pancreas acts as both an exocrine gland and an endocrine gland.
When the pancreas secretes pancreatic juices into the duodenum of the digestive system, those pancreatic enzymes are actually working outside of the human body. Technically the food that is being processed in the digestive tract is actually not yet part of the body until it is absorbed through the walls of the intestines and into the body tissues.
We can think of the digestive tract as the hole of a donut. The empty space is actually not part of the donut. Therefor the pancreatic enzymes in the intestine are exocrine in nature.

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