{{short description|Type of regenerative growth}} thumb|Size of a normal pig kidney (left) compared to a solitary pig kidney (right). '''Compensatory growth''' is a type of regenerative growth that can take place in a number of human organs after the organs are either damaged, removed, or cease to function.<ref name="Widmaier2006">{{Cite book|author=Widmaier, E. P.|author2=Raff, H.|author3=Strang, K. T.|name-list-style=amp|title=Vander's Human Physiology: The Mechanisms Of Body Function|url=https://archive.org/details/humanphysiologym00vand_711|url-access=limited|edition=10th| publisher=McGraw-Hill Companies|location=Boston, Mass|pages=[https://archive.org/details/humanphysiologym00vand_711/page/n390 383]|year=2006|isbn=978-0-07-282741-5}}</ref> Additionally, increased functional demand can also stimulate this growth in tissues and organs.<ref name=Goss>{{Cite journal | last1 = Goss | first1 = R. | title = Kinetics of Compensatory Growth | journal = The Quarterly Review of Biology | volume = 40 | pages = 123–146 | year = 1965 | issue = 2 | pmid = 14338253 | doi=10.1086/404538| s2cid = 19069765 }}</ref> The growth can be a result of increased cell size (compensatory hypertrophy) or an increase in cell division (compensatory hyperplasia) or both.<ref name="Britannica">{{Cite web | title = compensatory growth (biology) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/129769/compensatory-growth | accessdate = 10 June 2011 }}</ref> For instance, if one kidney is surgically removed, the cells of the other kidney divide at an increased rate.<ref name="Widmaier2006"/> Eventually, the remaining kidney can grow until its mass approaches the combined mass of two kidneys.<ref name="Widmaier2006"/> Along with the kidneys, compensatory growth has also been characterized in a number of other tissues and organs including: * The adrenal glands<ref name="Vincent1912">{{cite book|author=Swale Vincent|title=Internal secretion and the ductless glands|url=https://archive.org/details/internalsecreti00vincgoog|accessdate=10 June 2011|year=1912|publisher=Arnold|page=[https://archive.org/details/internalsecreti00vincgoog/page/n176 150]}}</ref><ref name="DelafieldPrudden1907">{{cite book|author1=Francis Delafield|author2=Theophil Mitchell Prudden|title=A text-book of pathology with an introductory section on post-mortem examinations and the methods of preserving and examining diseased tissues|url=https://archive.org/details/textbookofpathole8dela|accessdate=10 June 2011|year=1907|publisher=William Wood and Company|pages=[https://archive.org/details/textbookofpathole8dela/page/61 61]–62}}</ref> * The heart<ref name="DelafieldPrudden1907"/><ref name="Khan2005">{{cite book|author=M. I. Gabriel Khan|title=Encyclopedia of heart diseases|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xco9aJ_Y9XIC&pg=PA493|accessdate=10 June 2011|date=5 December 2005|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-406061-6|pages=493–494}}</ref> * Muscles<ref name="DelafieldPrudden1907"/> * The liver<ref name="DelafieldPrudden1907"/><ref name="Atala2008">{{cite book|author=Anthony Atala|title=Principles of regenerative medicine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BG5paiwd5hgC&pg=PA101|accessdate=10 June 2011|year=2008|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-369410-2|pages=101–102}}</ref> * The lungs<ref name=Rannels>{{Cite journal | last1 = Rannels | first1 = D. | title = Role of physical forces in compensatory growth of the lung | journal = The American Journal of Physiology | volume = 257 | issue = 4 Pt 1 | pages = L179–L189 | year = 1989 | doi = 10.1152/ajplung.1989.257.4.L179 | pmid = 2679138}}</ref> * The pancreas (beta cells and acinar cells)<ref name="Atala2008"/> * The mammary glands<ref name="DelafieldPrudden1907"/> * The spleen (where bone marrow and lymphatic tissue undergo compensatory hypertrophy and assumes the spleen function during spleen injury)<ref name="DelafieldPrudden1907"/> * The testicles<ref name="DelafieldPrudden1907"/> * The thyroid gland<ref name="DelafieldPrudden1907"/><ref name="Ernst1919">{{cite book|author=Harold Clarence Ernst|title=The Journal of medical research|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfKfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA199|accessdate=10 June 2011|year=1919|page=199}}</ref> * The turbinates of the nose{{Medical citation needed|date=September 2022}}
A large number of growth factors and hormones are involved with compensatory growth, but the exact mechanism is not fully understood and probably varies between different organs.<ref name="Widmaier2006"/> Nevertheless, angiogenic growth factors which control the growth of blood vessels are particularly important because blood flow significantly determines the maximum growth of an organ.<ref name="Widmaier2006"/>
Compensatory growth may also refer to the accelerated growth following a period of slowed growth, particularly as a result of nutrient deprivation.
==See also== *Hyperplasia *Hypertrophy *Cellular adaptation
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Developmental biology Category:Healing Category:Human anatomy Category:Human physiology Category:Human development