Glucocorticoid hormone as regulator and readout of resilience

Abstract

The glucocorticoid hormones corticosterone and cortisol (CORT) are pleiotropic master regulators of resilience. This pleiotropy refers to the multifaceted CORT action in maintaining fitness and to promote stress-coping and adaptation. Mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) and glucocorticoid receptors (GR) mediate this wide diversity of CORT actions complementary through rapid nongenomic and slower genomic mechanisms. The current contribution reports the following: i) brisk CORT reactivity and secretion patterns as hallmarks of resilience outcome, (ii) MR-mediated selection of coping styles and GR-mediated adaptation as a CORT-dependent switch in support of the resilience process, and (iii) the application of selective GR modulators to improve on resilience by attenuating inflammatory and emotional components of stress-related neurodegeneration. These findings highlight how CORT via MR and GR activation may modulate and monitor the resilience process and outcome in particular contexts.