percy julian's research also aided progress in the field. the exact nature of cortisone's anti-inflammatory action remained a mystery for years after, however, until the leukocyte adhesion cascade and the role of phospholipase a2 in the production of prostaglandins and leukotrienes was fully understood in the early 1980s. etymology the cortico- part of the name refers to the adrenal cortex, which makes these steroid hormones. thus a corticosteroid is a "cortex steroid".