corticosterone Biochem.
(ˌkɔːtɪkəʊˈstɪərəʊn)
Also -steron.
[ad. G. corticosteron (Reichstein et al. 1936, in Proc. K. Akad. Wetensch. (Amsterdam) XXXIX. 1218), f. cortico- + sterol+-one.]
A steroid hormone, C21H30O4, produced by the adrenal cortex.
| 1937 Nature 2 Jan. 26/1 (heading) Corticosteron, a crystallized compound with the biological activity of the adrenal⁓cortical hormone. Ibid. 26/2 Corticosteron is a highly active cortical hormone. 1937 [see deoxycorticosterone]. 1938 Ann. Reg. 1937 348 A new male sex hormone..was isolated and made synthetically, and a compound was synthesised (21-oxy-progesterone) with activity similar to corticosterone. 1952 G. H. Bourne et al. Cytology (ed. 2) xi. 478 From the adrenal cortex there have been extracted two main groups of physiologically active steroids. One group..of which corticosterone and cortisone are examples, affects carbohydrate metabolism and the distribution of glucose. 1964 [see cortisol]. 1969 Times 7 Jan. 8/7 The rat-reared mice also produced less corticosterone, a hormone that prepares the body for stress, when faced with an alarming situation. |