Cited by 158Stress Responses and CortisolAdrenal Hormones and DisordersEstrogen and related hormone effects

Glucocorticoid Dysregulations and Their Clinical Correlates: From Receptors to Therapeutics

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Marques, Andrea H., Silverman, Marni N., Sternberg, Esther M.·2009·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Clinicians have long known that a substantial proportion of patients treated with high‐dose glucocorticoids experience a variety of serious side effects, including metabolic syndrome, bone loss, and mood shifts, such as depressive symptomatology, manic or hypomanic symptoms, and even suicide. The reason for individual variability in expression or severity of these side effects is not clear. However, recent emerging literature is beginning to shed light on possible mechanisms of these effects. As an introduction to this volume, this chapter will review the basic biology of glucocorticoid release and molecular mechanisms of glucocorticoid receptor function, and will discuss how dysregulation of glucocorticoid action at all levels could contribute to such side effects. At the molecular level, glucocorticoid receptor polymorphisms may be associated either with receptor hypofunction or hyperfunction and could thus contribute to differential individual sensitivity to the effects of glucocorticoid treatment. Numerous factors regulate hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis responsiveness, which could also contribute to individual differences in glucocorticoid side effects. One of these is sex hormone status and the influence of estrogen and progesterone on HPA axis function and mood. Another is immune system activity, in which immune molecules, such as interleukins and cytokines, activate the HPA axis and alter brain function, including memory, cognition, and mood. The effects of cytokines in inducing sickness behaviors, which overlap with depressive symptomatology, could also contribute to individual differences in such symptomatology. Taken together, this knowledge will have important relevance for identifying at‐risk patients to avoid or minimize such side effects when they are treated with glucocorticoids. A framework for assessment of patients is proposed that incorporates functional, physiological, and molecular biomarkers to identify subgroups of patients at risk for depressive symptomatology associated with glucocorticoid treatment, and for prevention of side effects, which in many cases can be life‐threatening.

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Crossref · 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04987.x

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  • Aberrant glucocorticoid signaling is a mechanism that can influence the maintenance or progression of these disorders.

    “Although the role that altered glucocorticoid sensitivity plays in the etiology of these disease conditions remains unclear, there is little doubt that aberrant glucocorticoid signaling is a mechanism that can influence the maintenance or progression of these disorders”
  • Hyperproduction of cortisol in Cushing's disease is responsible for the onset of depressive and manic symptoms and neurocognitive deficits, and directly influences the function and structure of various central nervous system areas.

    “the hyperproduction of cortisol in Cushing's disease is responsible for the onset of depressive, manic symptoms and neurocognitive deficits, and directly influences the function and structure of various CNS areas (Sonino and Fava ,2001;Marques et al. 2009;Andela et al. 2015).”

    From The HPA axis in bipolar disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis (2016) · cites this paper as Marques et al. 2009

  • Prolonged hypercortisolemia can determine the onset of mood or psychotic symptoms.

    “prolonged hypercortisolemia can determine the onset of mood or psychotic symptoms (Marques et al. 2009;Belvederi Murri et al. 2012)”

    From The HPA axis in bipolar disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis (2016) · cites this paper as Marques et al. 2009

  • Extensive evidence documents perturbed hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function as a result of early life stress and in depression and certain anxiety disorders, particularly PTSD.

    “there is extensive evidence documenting perturbed HPA function both as a result of ELS and in the context of depression and certain anxiety disorders (particularly PTSD)”

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Wolkowitz O Mood, memory, and mechanisms Ann N Y Acad Sci Glucocorticoids and Mood: Clinical Manifestations, Risk Factors, and Molecular Mechanisms. In press

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Authors
Marques, A. H., Silverman, M. N., & Sternberg, E. M.
Affiliations
National Institutes of Health (US)
Corresponding author
Sternberg, Esther M.
Venue
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2009-10
Volume
1179
Issue
1
Pages
1-18
ISSN
  • 0077-8923 (ISSN-L)
  • 1749-6632
OpenAlex
W1976734955
Cited by
158
References
154
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 16
FWCI
0.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health (ZIAMH002585)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Estrogen and related hormone effects
Keywords
glucocorticoid adverse effects, glucocorticoid receptor, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, HPA axis dysregulation, sex hormones, estrogen, progesterone, cytokines, sickness behavior, depression, mood disorders, suicide risk, metabolic syndrome, bone loss, interindividual variability, biomarkers, patient risk assessment, glucocorticoid therapy
MeSH terms
Animals, Cognition Disorders, Depressive Disorder, Forecasting, Glucocorticoids, Humans, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Receptors, Glucocorticoid, Gonadal Steroid Hormones

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