Role of cortisol in the physiological response to toxicants in fish

当生物体暴露于潜在的有害刺激时，会引起生理应激反应。皮质醇是鱼类组织水平反应的关键激素效应物。压力反应的特点是许多物种和不同的压力源，包括有毒物质，但关键的基本问题仍然存在：压力反应是有益的或有害的有机体在暴露于有毒物质;是脆弱性有毒物质相关的鲁棒性的反应？拟议的研究的目标是阐明皮质醇在鱼类对有毒物质的生理反应中的作用，并检验皮质醇在急性潜在致命有毒物质暴露下具有有益作用的假设，但在亚致死慢性暴露下是有害的，会产生显著的代谢成本。

The physiological stress response is elicited when organisms are exposed to potentially harmful stimuli. Cortisol is a key hormonal effector of the response at tissue level in fish. The stress response has been characterized for many species and diverse stressors, including toxicants, yet key fundamental questions remain: is the stress response beneficial or detrimental to the organism during exposure to toxicants; is vulnerability to toxicants related to robustness of the response? The goal of the proposed research is to elucidate the role of cortisol in the physiological response to toxicants in fish and test the hypothesis that cortisol has beneficial effects under acute potentially lethal toxicant exposures, but is detrimental, engendering significant metabolic costs, under sublethal chronic exposures.