ArticleDose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society2011
Cortisol exerts bi-phasic regulation of inflammation in humans.
Article in Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 135 citations in OpenAlex.
- Corticosteroid Usage in Modeling Gulf War Illness in Pre-Clinical Models: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- The Link Between Positive and Negative Parenting Behaviors and Child Inflammation: A Systematic Review.Child psychiatry and human development · 2023Pooled it
- Single-cell transcriptomics provides insights into the stress-immune interplay and informs disease risk.Cell genomics · 2026Article
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- Metapanax delavayi extract as a neurocutaneous modulator via CRHR1/POMC/MC1R signaling.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Metabolomic pattern of ultraprocessed food intake and its association with colorectal cancer risk.Gut · 2025Article
- Coordination of inflammatory and adrenocortical stress response during pregnancy and variation by mental health.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
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- Psychosocial stress amplifies inflammation through NLRP3 Inflammasome activated by endoplasmic reticulum stress in the mouse heart.Journal of molecular and cellular cardiology · 2025Article
- Dietary Supplementation with Probiotics Alleviates Intestinal Injury in LPS-Challenged Piglets.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Brain inflammation and its predictive value for post-operative pain in total knee arthroplasty patients.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Survival of the Littlest: Navigating Sepsis Diagnosis beyond Inflammation in Preterm Neonates.Journal of proteome research · 2025Article
- Exploring the Regulatory Effect of Hydroxytyrosol on Ovarian Inflammaging Through Autophagy-Targeted Mechanisms: A Bioinformatics Approach.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Neuroinflammation-A Crucial Factor in the Pathophysiology of Depression-A Comprehensive Review.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- How Hormonal Balance Changes Lives in Women with Psoriasis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Association between metabolic score for insulin resistance and lower limb pain among the elderly: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Salivary cortisol in long COVID: a marker of broader stress system and circadian rhythm dysregulation.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Decoding a Hidden Energy State Based on Marked Point Process Cortisol Secretory Events During Cardiac Surgery.2024 IEEE International Conference on E-health Networking, Application & Services (HealthCom) · 2024Article
- The influence of light and heavy training weeks on the cortisol and testosterone awakening responses of elite male judokas: is skeletal muscle damage a mediating factor?Biology of sport · 2024Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Natural and synthetic glucocorticoids (GCs) have been used for decades to suppress inflammation. In this paper, we re-examine the role of the endogenous GC, cortisol, as a primary homeostatic regulator of the human inflammatory response to injury. Our data show that cortisol regulation of innate immunity can be both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory. Using a human model of in vivo cortisol depletion, we first show that baseline (diurnal) cortisol concentrations do not exert an anti-inflammatory effect. This is the first clue that cortisol regulation of inflammation is not represented by a linear dose-response relationship. We next show in surgical patients that cortisol does exert an acute anti-inflammatory effect over a carefully regulated range of physiologic cortisol concentrations. Finally, transient pre-treatment of healthy humans with cortisol induces a bi-phasic response during a later, delayed systemic inflammatory response: an intermediate cortisol concentration augments inflammation while a high cortisol concentration is neither pro- nor anti-inflammatory. Based on these findings and the work of others, we propose a new paradigm that identifies cortisol regulation of human inflammation as both dualistic-it is pro- and anti-inflammatory-and dynamic, it evolves over time.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.