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Glucocorticoids are powerful regulators of immune function. Their role in reducing inflammation and autoimmune responses is well known, as is their ability to induce apoptosis in immature thymocytes. However, much of the story of glucocorticoid effects on immunity has been derived from in vitro studies on immune cells, as well as from the in vitro and in vivo actions of synthetic glucocorticoids, both of which may not represent the complex effects manifested by endogenous adrenal steroids in vivo. As a result, the picture of glucocorticoid actions on immune function has been biased towards the immunosuppressive actions of these hormones. A more accurate view of endogenous glucocorticoids is that they are subtle and complex modulators of immune function, not only containing the exuberance of inflammatory and autoimmune responses, but also both enhancing and inhibiting host immune responses and …