Secondary hypoadrenalism, or ACTH deficiency hypoadrenalism, is caused by diseases of the pituitary gland, which lead to adrenal failure as a secondary effect.
When the ACTH binds to receptors on cells in an adrenal cortex, it triggers the release of a frenzy of different freak-out compounds known as glucocorticoid and mineralcorticoid hormones.
Apart from pituitary adenomas, there are ectopic sources of ACTH like small cell lung cancer, and in these cases the excess ACTH is coming from somewhere other than the pituitary.
To do that, the body uses negative feedback, which means that high levels of cortisol tell the hypothalamus and pituitary gland to decrease their secretion of CRH and ACTH, respectively.
And what I've seen is like when you take excessive amount of ashwagandha and if someone's predisposed to that, people don't get the cortisol response at all from ACTH.
Another option is also the dexamethasone suppression test, which is when a person is given a low dose of dexamethasone, which is an exogenous steroid that suppresses ACTH production in the pituitary gland.
Normally, the hypothalamus, which is located at the base of the brain, secretes corticotropin-releasing hormone, known as CRH, which stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone, known as ACTH.
The ACTH specifically stimulates cells in this zone to secrete cortisol, which belongs to a class of steroids, or lipid-soluble hormones, called glucocorticoids.