Dictionary of Biological Psychology
A class of HORMONES, including both the GLUCOCORTICOIDS and the MINERALOCORTICOIDS secreted from the ADRENAL GLAND, and the SEX HORMONES (ANDROGENS, ESTROGENS and PROGESTERONE).
These sex hormones come into the category of corticosteroids because they are released from the cortex of the adrenal gland (which is of course where the term corticosteroids comes from) but they are more commonly recognized as gonadal steroids—steroids released from the GONADS. Corticosteroids are activated by ADRENOCORTICOTROPIC HORMONE relcased from the ADENOHYPOPHYSIS; see ENDOCRINE GLANDS; HORMONES—CLASSIFICATION; PREGNANCY; STRESS.
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