Corticosterone Unit Converter

Corticosterone is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands. It belongs to the corticosteroid family and acts as both a weak glucocorticoid and a weak mineralocorticoid.

In humans, cortisol is the dominant glucocorticoid, and corticosterone plays a relatively minor role in everyday stress and metabolic regulation. Its primary importance in human physiology is as the direct precursor to aldosterone, the body's main mineralocorticoid that regulates sodium, potassium, and blood pressure.

Corticosterone becomes clinically significant in certain rare enzyme deficiencies. In 17-alpha-hydroxylase deficiency, the cortisol pathway is blocked and corticosterone becomes the primary compensatory glucocorticoid, making its measurement essential for diagnosis.

Corticosterone is produced in the adrenal cortex, specifically in the zona glomerulosa (where it is converted to aldosterone) and the zona fasciculata (where it is a byproduct of cortisol synthesis). Both zones synthesize it from deoxycorticosterone using the enzyme 11-beta-hydroxylase.