"Typical of a peptide hormone, epinephrine never enters the cell. Therefore, the hormone is called the first messenger , while cAMP, which sets the metabolic machinery in motion, is called the second messenger . To explain this terminology, let's imagine that the adrenal medulla, which produces epinephrine, is like the home office that sends out a courier (i.e., the hormone epinephrine is the first messenger) to a factory (the cell). The courier doesn't have a pass to enter the factory, so when he arrives at the factory, he tells a supervisor through the screen door that the home office wants the factory to produce a particular product. The supervisor (i.e., cAMP, the second messenger) walks over and flips a switch that starts the machinery (the enzymatic pathway), and a product is made."