Figure - PMC

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

View full-text article in PMC

. 2021 Mar 29;8:640974. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.640974

Search in PMC
Search in PubMed
View in NLM Catalog
Add to search

Copyright © 2021 Tretter, Wolkenhauer, Meyer-Hermann, Dietrich, Green, Marcum and Weckwerth.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

PMC Copyright notice

Interaction of the HPA axis with the immune system in COVID-19: Antagonistic convergence on ACTH production by inhibitory cortisol feedback and activating interleukin-6 that is released by macrophages after contact with SARS-Cov-2. The structure of the feedback loop explains the glucocorticoid paradox in COVID-19, i.e., that elevated serum concentrations of cortisol are associated with poor prognosis but that pharmacological use of glucocorticoids like prednisolone or dexamethasone leads to improved outcomes. For more details see text.