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Cortisone ( or ('kôrt??son or -zon)) (17-hydroxy-11-dehydrocorticosterone) is a steroid
Steroid

A steroid is a terpenoid lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton with four fused rings, generally arranged in a 6-6-6-5 fashion.Steroids vary by the functional groups attached to these rings and the oxidation state of the rings....
 hormone
Hormone

Hormones are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism....
. Chemically, it is a corticosteroid
Corticosteroid

Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex. Corticosteroids are involved in a wide range of physiology systems such as stress , immune system and regulation of inflammation, carbohydrate metabolism, protein catabolism, blood electrolyte levels, and behavior....
 closely related to corticosterone
Corticosterone

Corticosterone is a 21 carbon steroid hormone of the corticosteroid type produced in the cortex of the adrenal glands....
.

isone was first discovered by the American chemist Edward Calvin Kendall
Edward Calvin Kendall

Edward Calvin Kendall was an United States chemist who, together with Philip Showalter Hench and Tadeus Reichstein, won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1950 for research at the Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota on the structure and biological effects of adrenal cortex hormones....
 while a researcher at the Mayo Clinic. He was awarded the 1950 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine along with Philip S. Hench and Tadeus Reichstein
Tadeus Reichstein

Tadeusz Reichstein was a Poland Swiss chemist and Nobel laureate.Reichstein was born into a Jewish family at Wloclawek, Congress Poland, and spent his early childhood at Kiev, where his father was an engineer....
 for the discovery of adrenal cortex
Adrenal cortex

Situated along the perimeter of the adrenal gland, the adrenal cortex mediates the stress response through the production of mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids, including aldosterone and cortisol respectively....
 hormones, their structures, and functions.






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Encyclopedia


Cortisone ( or ('kôrt??son or -zon)) (17-hydroxy-11-dehydrocorticosterone) is a steroid
Steroid

A steroid is a terpenoid lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton with four fused rings, generally arranged in a 6-6-6-5 fashion.Steroids vary by the functional groups attached to these rings and the oxidation state of the rings....
 hormone
Hormone

Hormones are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism....
. Chemically, it is a corticosteroid
Corticosteroid

Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex. Corticosteroids are involved in a wide range of physiology systems such as stress , immune system and regulation of inflammation, carbohydrate metabolism, protein catabolism, blood electrolyte levels, and behavior....
 closely related to corticosterone
Corticosterone

Corticosterone is a 21 carbon steroid hormone of the corticosteroid type produced in the cortex of the adrenal glands....
.

History

Cortisone was first discovered by the American chemist Edward Calvin Kendall
Edward Calvin Kendall

Edward Calvin Kendall was an United States chemist who, together with Philip Showalter Hench and Tadeus Reichstein, won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1950 for research at the Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota on the structure and biological effects of adrenal cortex hormones....
 while a researcher at the Mayo Clinic. He was awarded the 1950 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine along with Philip S. Hench and Tadeus Reichstein
Tadeus Reichstein

Tadeusz Reichstein was a Poland Swiss chemist and Nobel laureate.Reichstein was born into a Jewish family at Wloclawek, Congress Poland, and spent his early childhood at Kiev, where his father was an engineer....
 for the discovery of adrenal cortex
Adrenal cortex

Situated along the perimeter of the adrenal gland, the adrenal cortex mediates the stress response through the production of mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids, including aldosterone and cortisol respectively....
 hormones, their structures, and functions. Cortisone was first produced commercially by Merck & Co.
Merck & Co.

Merck & Co., Inc. , also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the USA and Canada, is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world....
.

Production


Cortisone is one of several end products of a process called steroidogenesis. This process starts with the synthesis of cholesterol
Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a lipidic, waxy alcohol found in the cell membranes and transported in the blood plasma of all animals. It is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and membrane fluidity....
 which then proceeds through a series of modifications in the adrenal gland
Adrenal gland

In mammals, the adrenal glands are the star-shaped endocrine glands that sit on top of the kidneys; their name indicates that position . They are chiefly responsible for regulating the stress response through the biosynthesis of corticosteroids and catecholamines, including cortisol and adrenaline, respectively....
 (suprarenal) to become any one of many steroid hormones. One end product of this pathway is cortisol
Cortisol

Cortisol is a corticosteroid hormone or glucocorticoid produced by the adrenal cortex, that is part of the adrenal gland . It is usually referred to as the "stress hormone" as it is involved in response to stress and anxiety, controlled by Corticotropin-releasing hormone....
. For cortisol to be released from the adrenal gland a cascade of signaling occurs. Corticotropin releasing hormone released from the hypothalamus
Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland ....
 stimulates corticotrophs in the anterior pituitary
Anterior pituitary

The anterior pituitary comprises the Anterior#Usage in human anatomy lobe of the pituitary gland and is part of the endocrine system. Unlike the posterior pituitary, the anterior lobe is genuinely glandular, hence the root adeno in its name....
 to release ACTH which relays the signal to the adrenal cortex. Here, the zona fasiculata and zona reticularis in response to ACTH secrete glucocorticoids, in particular cortisol. In the peripheral tissues cortisol is converted to cortisone by an enzyme
Enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalysis chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called Substrate , and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products....
 called 11-beta-steroid dehydrogenase. Cortisol has much greater glucocorticoid
Glucocorticoid

Glucocorticoids are a class of steroid hormones which bind to the glucocorticoid receptor , which is present in almost every animal cell.GCs are part of the feedback mechanism in the immune system which turns immune activity down....
 activity than cortisone and thus cortisone can be considered an inactive metabolite of cortisol. However 11-beta-steroid dehydrogenase can catalyze the reverse reaction as well and thus cortisone is also the inactive precursor molecule of the active hormone cortisol. Cortisone is activated through hydrogenation
Hydrogenation

Hydrogenation is the chemical reaction that results from the addition of hydrogen . The process is usually employed to a redox or Saturation organic compounds....
 of the 11-keto-group and cortisol is thus sometimes referred to as hydrocortisone.

Effects and uses

Cortisol, a glucocorticoid
Glucocorticoid

Glucocorticoids are a class of steroid hormones which bind to the glucocorticoid receptor , which is present in almost every animal cell.GCs are part of the feedback mechanism in the immune system which turns immune activity down....
, and adrenaline are the main hormones released by the body as a reaction to stress. They elevate blood pressure and prepare the body for a fight or flight response.

Cortisone is sometimes used as a drug to treat a variety of ailments. It can be administered intravenously or cutaneously.

One of cortisone's effects on the body, and a potentially harmful side effect when administered clinically, is the suppression of the immune system. This could be the explanation for the apparent correlation between high stress
Stress (medicine)

Stress is a biological term which refers to the consequences of the failure of a human or animal body to respond appropriately to emotional or body threats to the organism, whether actual or imagined....
 and sickness. The suppression of the immune system may be important in the treatment of inflammatory conditions such as severe IgE
IGE

IGE is one of the largest MMORPG services companies, with offices in Los Angeles, Miami, and China. IGE is one of the main players in virtual economy services, also known in the MMORPG industry as secondary market....
-mediated allergies.

See also

  • Central serous retinopathy
    Central serous retinopathy

    Central serous retinopathy , also known as central serous chorioretinopathy , is a visual impairment, often temporary, usually in one eye, mostly affecting males in the age group 20 to 50 but which may also affect women....
  • Corticosterol


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