The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a neuroendocrine network that controls hormonal responses to internal and external challenges in an organism's environment, exhibits strikingly sex-biased activity. In adult female rodents, acute HPA function following a stressor is markedly greater than it is in males, and this difference has largely been attributed to modulation by the gonadal hormones testosterone and estradiol. These gonadal hormones are produced by the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and have been shown to determine sex differences in adult HPA function after acute stress via their activational and organizational effects. Although these actions of gonadal hormones are well supported, the possibility that sex chromosomes similarly influence HPA activity is unexplored. Moreover, questions remain regarding sex differences in the activity of the HPA axis following chronic stress and the underlying contributions of gonadal hormones and sex chromosomes. The present review examines what is currently known about sex differences in the neuroendocrine response to stress, as well as outstanding questions regarding this sex bias. Although it primarily focuses on the rodent literature, a brief discussion of sex differences in the human HPA axis is also included.

中文翻译：

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下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴对压力反应的性别差异：性腺激素的重要作用。

下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺 (HPA) 轴是一种神经内分泌网络，可控制对生物体环境中内部和外部挑战的激素反应，表现出明显的性别偏见活动。在成年雌性啮齿动物中，应激源后的急性 HPA 功能明显高于雄性，这种差异主要归因于性腺激素睾酮和雌二醇的调节。这些性腺激素由下丘脑-垂体-性腺 (HPG) 轴产生，并已显示通过其激活和组织效应确定急性应激后成人 HPA 功能的性别差异。尽管性腺激素的这些作用得到了很好的支持，但性染色体同样影响 HPA 活性的可能性尚未得到探索。而且，关于慢性压力后 HPA 轴活动的性别差异以及性腺激素和性染色体的潜在贡献的问题仍然存在。本综述研究了目前已知的关于压力神经内分泌反应中的性别差异，以及关于这种性别偏见的悬而未决的问题。虽然它主要关注啮齿动物文献，但也包括对人类 HPA 轴性别差异的简要讨论。