Steroid-dependent management of biological responses in the nervous system

Abstract

The existence of corticosteroid receptors in the nervous system was first demonstrated in several structures such as the hypothalamus, hippocampus and the parietal cortex for a comprehensive review of that time whose validity still persists today). The potential presence of more than one population of corticosteroid-binding sites in the brain and in anterior pituitary was then suggested based on the differential binding of dexamethasone and corticosterone . These results were also consistent with the view that the dexamethasone blockade of stress-induced adrenocorticotrophic hormone release is mediated by the anterior pituitary, while the high specificity of corticosterone binding in the hippocampus implies a specific, but undetermined effect of the hormone in this brain area, an effect which was thought to be unrelated to regulation of adrenocorticotrophic hormone secretion. These findings led researchers to suggest a role of extrahypothalamic regions in the perception of corticosteroid feedback as well as in the regulation of the hypothalamo-hypophysial-adrenal function.