REVIEW: Glucocorticoid Resistance

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Z. Orbak

Atatürk University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, 25240, Erzurum, Turkey; E-mail: zerrinorbak@yahoo.com

Received February 27, 2006; Revision received June 5, 2006

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Glucocorticoids contribute fundamentally to the maintenance of basal and stress-related homeostasis in all higher organisms. The major roles of these steroids in physiology are amply matched by their remarkable contributions to pathology. Glucocorticoid resistance is a rare familial, or sporadic condition characterized by partial end-organ insensitivity to glucocorticoids. The molecular basis of glucocorticoid resistance in several families and sporadic cases has been ascribed to mutations in the human glucocorticoid receptor alpha (hGRalpha) gene, which impair the ability of the receptor to transduce the glucocorticoid signal. Glucocorticoids are crucial for life, and therefore complete glucocorticoid resistance is uncommon. The purpose of this review is to discuss the many structural and functional features of the glucocorticoid receptor and also to evaluate the main clinical and laboratory characteristics of cortisol resistance.

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KEY WORDS: glucocorticoid, resistance, receptor

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297906100038

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