Opinion Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jul 26, 2022; 10(21): 7187-7194
Published online Jul 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i21.7187
Effects of glucocorticoids on leukocytes: Genomic and non-genomic mechanisms
Wan-Yu Jia, Jian-Jiang Zhang
Wan-Yu Jia, Jian-Jiang Zhang, Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China
Wan-Yu Jia, Jian-Jiang Zhang, Clinical Center of Pediatric Nephrology of Henan Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang JJ conceived the idea for the manuscript; Jia WY reviewed the literature and drafted the manuscript; all authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Supported by Provinces Co-construction Program of Medical Science and Technique Foundation of Henan Province, No. SB201901042; and Key Scientific Research Project of Colleges and Universities in Henan Province, No. 21A320070.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jian-Jiang Zhang, Doctor, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, No. 1 Jianshe East Road, Erqi District, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China. zhangjianjiang1@hotmail.com
Received: December 24, 2021
Peer-review started: December 24, 2021
First decision: February 14, 2022
Revised: February 21, 2022
Accepted: June 3, 2022
Article in press: June 3, 2022
Published online: July 26, 2022
Processing time: 199 Days and 5.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Glucocorticoids (GCs) increase peripheral blood neutrophil counts through genomic and non-genomic actions and reduce the numbers of lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils, and monocytes. GCs also regulate cell activity and affect cells. The functions of adhesion, activation, secretion and differentiation inhibit the expression of proinflammatory factors and chemokines. The mechanisms of action of GCs include effects on intracellular transcription and protein expression, effects on mitochondria, physical and chemical interactions with biological membranes, and receptor-mediated interactions with signal proteins.