12 Facts About Cortisol

Cortisol is a steroid hormone, in the glucocorticoid class of hormones.

Cortisol has a permissive effect on the actions of hormones that increase glucose production, such as glucagon and adrenaline.

Cortisol plays an important, but indirect, role in liver and muscle glycogenolysis which occurs as a result of the action of glucagon and adrenaline.

Cortisol prevents the release of substances in the body that cause inflammation.

Cortisol reduces bone formation, favoring long-term development of osteoporosis .

Cortisol raises the free amino acids in the serum by inhibiting collagen formation, decreasing amino acid uptake by muscle, and inhibiting protein synthesis.

Cortisol promotes sodium absorption through the small intestine of mammals.

Cortisol is produced in the human body by the adrenal gland in the zona fasciculata, the second of three layers comprising the adrenal cortex.

Cortisol follows a circadian rhythm, and to accurately measure cortisol levels is best to test four times per day through saliva.

Cortisol is lipophilic, and is transported bound to transcortin and albumin, while only a small part of the total serum cortisol is unbound and has biological activity.

Cortisol even has a negative feedback effect on interleukin-1—especially useful to treat diseases that force the hypothalamus to secrete too much CRH, such as those caused by endotoxic bacteria.

Cortisol is metabolized reversibly to cortisone by the 11-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase system, which consists of two enzymes: 11-beta HSD1 and 11-beta HSD2.