Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, glucocorticoids, and neurologic disease

Abstract

Neurologic diseases often are accompanied by significant life stress and consequent increases in stress hormone levels. Glucocorticoid stress hormones are known to have deleterious interactions with neurodegenerative processes and are hypersecreted in neurologic disorders and comorbid psychiatric conditions. This review highlights the current state of knowledge of mechanisms controlling activation and inhibition of glucocorticoid secretion, outlines signalling mechanisms used by these hormones in neural tissue, and describes how endogenous glucocorticoids can mitigate neuronal damage in models of neurologic disease. This review highlights the importance of controlling stress and consequent stress hormone secretion in the context of neurologic disease states.