Cited by 278Estrogen and related hormone effectsAdrenal Hormones and DisordersStress Responses and Cortisol

Glucocorticoids: exemplars of multi-tasking

Open access
Buckingham, Julia C·2006·British Journal of Pharmacology

Abstract

Well over 80 years ago Philip Smith described the beneficial clinical effects of adrenocortical extracts in animal models of adrenal insufficiency. In the ensuing years, scientists across the globe have sought to understand the mechanisms by which adrenal hormones and their synthetic analogues produce their complex and varied actions. Particular attention has focused on the glucocorticoids, partly because they have a vital place in the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders but also because dysregulation of the secretion and/or activity of endogenous glucocorticoids is increasingly implicated in a number of common disorders that pose a growing clinical burden, such as obesity, type II diabetes, the metabolic syndrome, hypertension and depression. This review considers some of the key advances that have been made in our understanding of the physiology, pathology and pharmacology of the glucocorticoids. Emphasis is placed on the molecular mechanisms of glucocorticoid signalling and the complex mechanisms that regulate the access of steroids in the systemic circulation to their receptors in their various target cells and tissues. In addition, consideration is given to the irreversible 'organisational' actions of glucocorticoids in perinatal life and to the potential role of the steroids in the aetiology of disease.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/sj.bjp.0706456

Cites

39 of 39 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • HPA axis dysfunction is linked to a decline in cognitive function, aging, immune system dysfunction, and systemic inflammation.

    “HPA axis dysfunction is linked to a decline in cognitive function, aging, immune system dysfunction, and systemic inflammation (135).”
  • These peptides stimulate the release of ACTH from corticotropic cells of the anterior pituitary gland, which in turn targets the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex to produce glucocorticoids, such as cortisol in humans and corticosterone in rodents.

    “These peptides stimulate the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from corticotropic cells of the anterior pituitary gland, which in turn targets the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex to produce glucocorticoids, such as cortisol in humans and corticosterone in rodents (133–135).”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. PEARSON MURPHY, B.E. (2002). Glucocorticoids, overview. In: Encyclopaedia of Stress, ed. Kink, G. pp. 244-260. San Diego: Academic Press.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Buckingham, J. C.
Affiliations
Imperial College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Buckingham, Julia C
Venue
British Journal of Pharmacology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2006-01
Volume
147
Issue
S1
Pages
S258-68
ISSN
  • 0007-1188 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-5381
OpenAlex
W1594205240
Cited by
276
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 18
FWCI
2.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • British Journal of Pharmacology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/E52708X/1)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Estrogen and related hormone effects
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Keywords
glucocorticoids, glucocorticoid signaling, steroid hormone receptors, adrenal insufficiency, adrenocortical extract, obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, depression, etiology
MeSH terms
Animals, Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Depressive Disorder, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Glucocorticoids, Humans, Hypertension, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Obesity, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Receptors, Glucocorticoid, Signal Transduction

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review