1 / 11

Endocrinology: Cortisol

Endocrinology: Cortisol. Biology 304 Lab Gina Neonakis & Michelle McPherson March 6, 2013. What is Cortisol?. Regulates blood pressure, glucose metabolism, insulin release, immune function and inflammatory response. Secreted by the adrenal gland Termed the “Stress Hormone ”

jagger
Download Presentation

Endocrinology: Cortisol

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Endocrinology: Cortisol Biology 304 Lab Gina Neonakis & Michelle McPherson March 6, 2013

  2. What is Cortisol? • Regulates blood pressure, glucose metabolism, insulin release, immune function and inflammatory response. • Secreted by the adrenal gland • Termed the “Stress Hormone” • Hydrocortisone creams

  3. Cortisol Secretion • Glucocorticoid • Brain perceives stress ↓Hypothalamus- CRH ↓Pituitary Gland- ACTH ↓Adrenal Gland- Cortisol Figure 1. Hormonal pathway caused by stress (Talbott & Kraemer, 2007).

  4. Cortisol Rhythm • Follows a circadian rhythm • Highest level 6:00am-8:00am • Lowest level 12:00am-2:00am Figure 2. A normal cortisol rhythm (Talbott & Kraemer, 2007).

  5. Figure 3. Normal stress response (Talbott & Kraemer, 2007). Figure 4. Modern human stress response (Talbott & Kraemer, 2007).

  6. Materials and Methods • 6 hormones ; ACTH, cortisol, LH, TSH, TSR and testosterone • Six sets of four adult male rats • One experimental set • One control set • Fed rat chow and were given fresh water • Two experimental rats were injected everyday with specified hormone • Two control rats injected everyday with saline • Two week injection period • Euthanized by a intraperitoneal injection

  7. Results Hormone 11 Controls

  8. Results • When comparing the control rats with the experimental rats these are the size differences we observed: • Pituitary: decrease • Thyroid: decrease • Thymus: decrease • Adrenals: decrease • Seminal Vesicles: decrease • Prostate: no significant change • Testes: no change and n/a

  9. Results

  10. Results • Unknown hormone 11 is Cortisol • Effects of high cortisol : fatigue, lowered immunity, increase fat deposits, can cause Cushing’s disease • Ways to prevent hyper secretion of cortisol : yoga, exercise, stress relieving activities

  11. Questions?

More Related