Steroids

Most of these belong to corticosteroid-like hormone drugs and can exert a powerful effect on other cells and tissues. Steroids, also known as “adrenal corticosteroids”, are hormones secreted under normal circumstances in the human body. In normal people, the adrenal glands can help maintain blood pressure and cardiovascular function, slow down the immune inflammatory response, counteract the ability of insulin to metabolize glucose, and regulate the metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Under special circumstances, it is secreted in large quantities to enable the body to cope with some urgent needs, so it is also a type of “stress hormone”. The secretion of corticosteroids is regulated by adrenal corticotropic hormone secreted by the pituitary gland, and adrenal corticotropic hormone is in turn regulated by corticorelease-releasing factor secreted by the hypothalamus.
There are three types of steroid hormones secreted by the adrenal cortex 1) glucocorticoids; (2) mineralocorticoids; (3) androgens. The steroids that people usually refer to are mostly glucocorticoids, which play a very important role in the body. The pharmacological effects of corticosteroids are complex and involve many physiological systems in the body. Regarding the mechanism of steroid drugs, it is believed that there are steroid receptors in the cytoplasm. When steroids bind to them, they enter the cell nucleus and bind to specific DNA receptors, affecting the synthesis of mRNA and proteins and generating steroid effects. There are some common functions, including anti-inflammatory responses, controlling the balance of sodium and water, being responsible for the metabolism of fat and protein, and the inhibitory effect of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis), etc.