Is There Reason to Believe that Cortisol Is Acute Released, but Not Chronically Released In Stress?

Question

Thanks K, Way Involved, An Impact On Addiction Maybe?

Answer 1

Cortisol, as I understand, is released in moderate levels daily creating a diurnal rhythm so that the body rises and sleeps normally.

Stress would cause the pituitary to increase ACTH and thus the adrenals to increase cortisol for a period of time for the stress.

Addison's disease is when the body does not produce enough cortisol to react to the stress.

Cushing's disease is when the body produces too much cortisol - thinking the body is under stress all the time.

Both are potentially fatal.

Cortisol binding globulin just regulates how much of the cortisol converts to free cortisol - as they noted the different forms.

Very interesting study.

Yes, I was producing cortisol indedepently of stress - I had ACTH sectreting coricotroph hyperplasia as well as a prolactinoma but had tumors in the wrong spots to be MEN I or MEN II but have had multiple endocrine issues so panhypopituitary so study this. My adrenals were also nodular but the pathology showed pituitary source but I wonder still if it was not PPAND.

Answer 2

I would suspect there would be individual differences in susceptibility to stress, that would be different, depending on what triggers the stress, and whether the stress is acute or chronic--in terms of the level at which release occurs, then, what happens to other systems after that...

In general, though, cortisol levels, obtained from hair have shown increases induced by acute stress. Recent studies have shown that hair cortisol levels may be used as a biomarker for long-term stress in humans, as well.

More specifically, to do with aformentioned potential variations: corticotroph secretagogues corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) have been found to respond rapidly to an acute stressor but, following chronic stress, they adapt with a reduction of CRH but a major increase in AVP. The release of CRH and AVP activates pro-opiomelanocortin in anterior pituitary corticotroph cells and the release of adrenocorticotrophic hormone into peripheral blood from where it targets receptors in the adrenal cortex to release glucocorticoid hormones. These hormones are released in a pulsatile ultradian pattern which defines the normal circadian rhythm. The frequency of the pulses is increased under states of chronic stress.

At the level of tissue receptors, the alteration in pattern of glucocorticoid ultradian rhythm has differential effects on mineralocorticoid receptor and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) binding to DNA and offers a mechanism for tissue specific responses to altered glucocorticoid dynamics.

EDIT: Oh, this is interesting. Just read to do with individual variability that, brain mineralocorticoid (MR) and glucocorticoid receptors (GR) operate in balance to coordinate behavioural, autonomic and neuroendocrine response patterns involved in homeostasis and health. Genetic variants of both the MR and GR have bMR-and GR-gene variants are part of the genetic make up that determines individual stress-responsivity and coping style, affecting vulnerability to disease. Neat.

EDIT 2: Thanx :-). Yeah, increased cortisol levels are thought to impact abstinence related sxs.

Read, also, that altered glucocorticoid negative feedback is related to chronic cocaine exposure, BUT, in the abstract I read, it could have been the result of former addictions and/or its long-term treatment with methadone. I think further studies are in the works. I lost that abstract. I just read it and can't find it, now. But, think what I cited was the jist of it, anyway...

Here's a goodie: WRT to your follow-up Q: "...escalation in drug intake with either extended access or dependence-induction produces an activation of the brain stress system's corticotropin-releasing factor outside of the hypothalamus in the extended amygdala, which is particularly evident during acute withdrawal."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17671...

EDIT 3: Here is another abstract to do with stress and cortisol. Apparently, in chronic stress, the assumption that cortisol decreases expression of BDNF is not so cut-and-dry. No statistically significant relationship between cortisol and BDNF. The conjectural conclusion is misleading in this abstract, but the results are clear. Correlation doesn't imply causality. Interesting, anyway:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18541...