Tag: glucocorticoids in stress

Almost any kind of threat to homeostasis or stress will cause plasma glucocorticoid levels to rise. The increased levels have traditionally been ascribed the physiological function of enhancing the organism’s resistance to stress, a role well recognized in glucocorticoid therapy. How the known physiological and pharmacological effects of glucocorticoids might accomplish this function, however, remains a mystery. A generalization that is beginning to emerge is that many of these effects may be secondary to modulation by glucocorticoids of the actions of numerous intercellular mediators, including established hormones, prostaglandins, and other arachidonic acid metabolites, certain secreted neutral proteinases, lymphokines, and a variety of bioactive peptides.