Ryan T Paitz

3 weeks ago | biorxiv.org | Sarah E Westrick |Ryan T Paitz |Eva Fischer

AbstractA general tenet in stress physiology is that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis predominantly produces one glucocorticoid (GC) in response to stressors. However, most vertebrates produce both cortisol and corticosterone, and these steroids show variation across species in absolute levels, relative proportions, and stress responsivity and regulate much more than just stress physiology. Therefore, focusing on a single GC within a species may not capture the whole story.