Department of Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA.
Integr Comp Biol. 2020 Jul 1;60(1):79-88. doi: 10.1093/icb/icaa003.
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulates the secretion of glucocorticoids, hormones with diverse roles ranging from regulating daily metabolic demand to coping with sudden perturbations. As a result, glucocorticoids are thought to help vertebrates track their changing environments and coordinate plasticity in diverse phenotypes. While this endocrine system is highly plastic-where one individual can produce multiple phenotypes across varying environmental conditions-little is understood about the degree to which individuals, populations, or species differ in circulating glucocorticoid plasticity. Empirical research quantifying individual variation in glucocorticoid plasticity has increased in recent years, though the multiple complex roles of the HPA-axis make it challenging to generalize the extent to which individual variation in plasticity exists. I provide an overview of current findings on variation in glucocorticoids plasticity, and outline multiple types of glucocorticoid plasticity researchers should consider in future work to advance our understanding of the causes and consequences of individual variation in glucocorticoid plasticity.
下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺 (HPA) 轴调节糖皮质激素的分泌，这些激素具有多种作用，从调节日常代谢需求到应对突发干扰。因此，人们认为糖皮质激素有助于脊椎动物跟踪不断变化的环境，并协调不同表型的可塑性。尽管这个内分泌系统具有高度的可塑性——同一个体可以在不同的环境条件下产生多种表型——但人们对个体、种群或物种在循环糖皮质激素可塑性方面的差异程度知之甚少。近年来，量化糖皮质激素可塑性个体差异的实证研究有所增加，但 HPA 轴的多种复杂作用使得很难概括存在可塑性个体差异的程度。我概述了当前关于糖皮质激素可塑性变异性的研究结果，并概述了未来研究中研究人员应该考虑的多种类型的糖皮质激素可塑性，以推进我们对糖皮质激素可塑性个体差异的原因和后果的理解。
