The association between cortisol, oxytocin, and immune cell mitochondrial oxygen consumption in postpartum women with childhood maltreatment

Upon activation of the stress response system, adaptive physiological processes are triggered that enable the individual to overcome the stressor and maintain health and stability (homeostasis) – a process termed allostasis (McEwen, 2004). On the biological level, two systems mainly orchestrate this stress response: the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) axis and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. To cover the increased energy demand associated with allostatic processes, glu cocorticoids (GC) – the main effector molecules of the HPA axis – induce the mobilization of energetic substrates into the blood stream.
Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research