{"snapshot":"44e259f029212318da5739eca7156c9e8cbffc25e5063306c2e960af9795426b","entity":{"id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812","path":"/human/hormone/cortisol","url":"https://teahann.com/human/hormone/cortisol","name":"Cortisol","aliases":[],"domain":"human","category":"/human/hormone","kind":"entity","model":"content","fields":{},"fact_grid":[{"label":"Chemical Class","value":"Glucocorticoid steroid (C21, from cholesterol)"},{"label":"Source","value":"Adrenal cortex, zona fasciculata"},{"label":"Primary Targets","value":"Liver, muscle, adipose, immune system, brain"},{"label":"Receptor","value":"Glucocorticoid receptor (nuclear; gene NR3C1)"},{"label":"Plasma Half-Life","value":"60–90 minutes (90% protein-bound)"},{"label":"Rhythm","value":"Peak 6–8 AM, trough near midnight"}],"source_ids":["s_3b40bb58d9fdcd1a69ca7bc3","s_dfc1d70d4d1d520157dcc5a6","s_1bf6f54a12d48a03a74eb33e"],"source_scope":"page; links are not automatically claim-level evidence","provenance":{"page":"/human/hormone/cortisol","content_file":"src/content/human/hormone/cortisol.html","dataset_sources":[]},"hash":"33873f3721abb3fc77892c114e6ca80f6f07901a18ac89f3941cbeedb3c0f2e5"},"passages":[{"id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812:p00000","entity_id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812","heading":"Overview","text":"The body's stress conductor — a glucocorticoid that redirects resources the instant life gets hard: glucose up, protein catabolism up, inflammation down, immunity down, alertness up. It is simultaneously essential to survival hour-to-hour and, in chronic excess, corrosive to nearly every tissue.\n\nChemical Class\nGlucocorticoid steroid (C21, from cholesterol)\n\nSource\nAdrenal cortex, zona fasciculata\n\nPrimary Targets\nLiver, muscle, adipose, immune system, brain\n\nReceptor\nGlucocorticoid receptor (nuclear; gene NR3C1)\n\nPlasma Half-Life\n60–90 minutes (90% protein-bound)\n\nRhythm\nPeak 6–8 AM, trough near midnight","source_ids":["s_3b40bb58d9fdcd1a69ca7bc3","s_dfc1d70d4d1d520157dcc5a6","s_1bf6f54a12d48a03a74eb33e"],"source_scope":"page"},{"id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812:p00001","entity_id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812","heading":"Secretion & Regulation","text":"Released under ACTH command from the pituitary, itself driven by CRH — the three-tiered HPA axis.\n\nStrong circadian programming: the pre-waking peak prepares glucose for the day; the midnight trough is the body's nightly reset. Losing this rhythm is a hallmark of Cushing syndrome regardless of level.\n\nNegative feedback at hypothalamus and pituitary — the loop dexamethasone suppression testing interrogates.\n\nPhysical stress (surgery, hypoglycemia, pain, fever) overrides the rhythm: in critical illness, cortisol is high at 3 AM if it needs to be.","source_ids":["s_3b40bb58d9fdcd1a69ca7bc3","s_dfc1d70d4d1d520157dcc5a6","s_1bf6f54a12d48a03a74eb33e"],"source_scope":"page"},{"id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812:p00002","entity_id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812","heading":"Mechanism of Action","text":"Cortisol diffuses into cells and binds the glucocorticoid receptor, which translocates to DNA and toggles thousands of genes — gluconeogenic enzymes up, inflammatory cytokines down (partly by inhibiting NF-κB). Full transcriptional effects take hours; fast membrane effects take minutes. The pathway map is glucocorticoid receptor signaling.","source_ids":["s_3b40bb58d9fdcd1a69ca7bc3","s_dfc1d70d4d1d520157dcc5a6","s_1bf6f54a12d48a03a74eb33e"],"source_scope":"page"},{"id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812:p00003","entity_id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812","heading":"Physiological Effects","text":"Metabolism: hepatic gluconeogenesis up, muscle protein breakdown up (amino-acid substrate), adipose lipolysis up — the \"glucose sparer\" that keeps fuel for brain and heart in fasting and stress.\n\nAnti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive: the basis of steroid drugs from prednisone to dexamethasone.\n\nPermissive: maintains vascular adrenergic responsiveness and endothelial integrity — without cortisol, blood pressure collapses.\n\nBrain: sharpens alertness and consolidates emotional memory; chronically, impairs hippocampus and sleep architecture.\n\nBone and connective tissue: reduces osteoblast activity and collagen synthesis — the catabolic price.","source_ids":["s_3b40bb58d9fdcd1a69ca7bc3","s_dfc1d70d4d1d520157dcc5a6","s_1bf6f54a12d48a03a74eb33e"],"source_scope":"page"},{"id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812:p00004","entity_id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812","heading":"Interactions & Feedback","text":"Antagonizes insulin (steroid diabetes in excess) and growth hormone's anabolic action; permissive to catecholamines.\n\nSuppresses the reproductive axis — stress-induced amenorrhea is cortisol quieting GnRH.\n\nWeak mineralocorticoid activity at the mineralocorticoid receptor, where 11β-HSD2 protects by deactivating cortisol in the kidney.\n\nAldosterone handles salt; cortisol handles stress — the adrenal cortex's division of labor (see the cortisol compound entry).","source_ids":["s_3b40bb58d9fdcd1a69ca7bc3","s_dfc1d70d4d1d520157dcc5a6","s_1bf6f54a12d48a03a74eb33e"],"source_scope":"page"},{"id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812:p00005","entity_id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812","heading":"When It Goes Wrong","text":"Cushing syndrome (excess): central obesity, moon face, purple striae, proximal myopathy, osteoporosis, hyperglycemia, easy bruising — from adenoma, ectopic ACTH, or chronic steroid therapy.\n\nAddison disease (deficiency): fatigue, hypotension, hyperpigmentation (ACTH), salt craving; adrenal crisis is the emergency — hydrocortisone is life-saving.\n\nChronic exogenous steroids suppress the HPA axis — tapering must be slow enough for the atrophied axis to wake.\n\nChronic stress elevations below the Cushing threshold still erode sleep, bone, mood and immune competence — the modern-life cortisol story.","source_ids":["s_3b40bb58d9fdcd1a69ca7bc3","s_dfc1d70d4d1d520157dcc5a6","s_1bf6f54a12d48a03a74eb33e"],"source_scope":"page"},{"id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812:p00006","entity_id":"e_5189388d54cb7637f6618812","heading":"Sources","text":"PubChem: CID 5754 · Cortisol\n\nNCBI Bookshelf: Kaur J, Gandhi J, Sharma S. Physiology, Cortisol. StatPearls, 2025. PMID 30855827.\n\nReview: Knezevic E, Nenic K, Milanovic V, et al. The Role of Cortisol in Chronic Stress, Neurodegenerative Diseases, and Psychological Disorders. Cells. 2023. PMID 38067154.","source_ids":["s_3b40bb58d9fdcd1a69ca7bc3","s_dfc1d70d4d1d520157dcc5a6","s_1bf6f54a12d48a03a74eb33e"],"source_scope":"page"}],"sources":[{"id":"s_3b40bb58d9fdcd1a69ca7bc3","url":"https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/5754","name":"5754","provenance":"expanded_page_link","verification":"inherited_from_site_not_reverified_by_export"},{"id":"s_dfc1d70d4d1d520157dcc5a6","url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538239/","name":"Physiology, Cortisol","provenance":"expanded_page_link","verification":"inherited_from_site_not_reverified_by_export"},{"id":"s_1bf6f54a12d48a03a74eb33e","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38067154/","name":"The Role of Cortisol in Chronic Stress, Neurodegenerative Diseases, and Psychological Disorders","provenance":"expanded_page_link","verification":"inherited_from_site_not_reverified_by_export"}],"has_more":false,"next_offset":null}