Is a steroid hormone that deal with stress over the long term. this hormone is released by cells in the adrenal cortex as the third step in the stress axis and binds with glucocorticoid receptors in target cells.

Cortisol

Explanation:

Cortisol is a steroid hormone, one of the glucocorticoids class, produced in the cortex of the adrenal glands (a gland above the kidney). Cortisol is majorly known to be an hormone secreted in response to stress in the body but it also regulates other processes in the body including metabolism, immune response, blood sugar level etc.

The secretion of cortisol is regulated by three inter-communicating regions in the body; the hypothalamus in the brain, the pituitary gland and the adrenal gland. These three components play a vital role in cortisol production and are therefore called the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis). When the level of cortisol is low, the hypothalamus secretes corticotrophin releasing-hormone, which induces the pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone into the blood stream. When the adrenal gland detects high levels of this hormone in the blood stream, it then triggers it to secrete cortisol into the blood stream, which transports it round the body.

Since most cells in the body have the glucocorticoid/cortisol receptor, the way cortisol is used varies. Cortisol responds to stress by temporarily shutting down the function of some body's system that are not needed in times of crisis e.g. reproductive system

High levels of this hormone in the body has side effects as it has been attributed to be the cause of the CUSHING SYNDROME.

a symbiotic relationship with the mitochondria