Hormone
Chapter: 2
In the context of this section, a hormone is a biologically active product of one cell that has its pharmacologic effect on another cell, which is located at a great distance from the producer cell. To have such a distant effect, hormones must enter and travel via one or more of the body fluids. An example of a group of hormones that influence the inflammatory response would be the corticosteroids. An exception to the definition given above is a group of chemical substances that primarily have potent local hormonal effects. They are called, "autocoids" (see separately). For example, the prostaglandins are members of the autocoid group.