Regulating your body’s stress response.Cortisol is widely known as the “stress hormone.” However, it has many important effects and functions throughout your body aside from regulating your body’s stress response. The main function of adrenocorticotropic hormone is to stimulate your adrenal glands to release cortisol.Ĭortisol is an essential hormone that affects almost every organ and tissue in your body.

What is the function of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)? Your anterior pituitary lobe makes and releases ACTH. Your pituitary gland is made of two lobes: the anterior (front) lobe and posterior (back) lobe. Your pituitary gland is a small, pea-sized gland located at the base of your brain below your hypothalamus. These signals tell your body what to do and when to do it. Hormones are chemicals that coordinate different functions in your body by carrying messages through your blood to your organs, skin, muscles and other tissues.

The release of ACTH triggers your adrenal glands to produce cortisol, the “stress hormone,” and androgens (a group of sex hormones). What is adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)?Īdrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is a hormone your pituitary gland releases that plays a large role in how your body responds to stress.

Adrenal gland