Releasing hormones and
inhibiting hormones are
hormones whose main purpose is to control the release of other hormones, either by stimulating or inhibiting their release. They are also called
liberins and
statins (respectively), or
releasing factors and
inhibiting factors. The principal examples are
hypothalamic-pituitary hormones that can be classified from several viewpoints: they are hypothalamic hormones (originating in the
hypothalamus), they are hypophysiotropic hormones (affecting the hypophysis, that is, the
pituitary gland), and they are
tropic hormones (having other endocrine glands as their target).