Pathophysiology
The hypothalamus is in the brain and the pituitary gland sits just below it. The paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which stimulates the pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropin (ACTH). ACTH travels via the blood to the adrenal gland, where it stimulates the release of cortisol. Cortisol is secreted by the cortex of the adrenal gland from a region called the zona fasciculata in response to ACTH. Elevated levels of cortisol exert negative feedback on the pituitary, which decreases the amount of ACTH released from the pituitary gland.
Strictly, Cushing's syndrome refers to excess cortisol of any etiology (as Syndrome means a group of symptoms). One of the causes of Cushing's syndrome is a cortisol secreting adenoma in the cortex of the adrenal gland (primary hypercortisolism/hypercorticism). The adenoma causes cortisol levels in the blood to be very high, and negative feedback on the pituitary from the high cortisol levels causes ACTH levels to be very low.
On the other hand, Cushing's disease refers only to hypercortisolism secondary to excess production of ACTH from a corticotroph pituitary adenoma (secondary hypercortisolism/hypercorticism) or due to excess production of hypothalamus CRH (Corticotropin releasing hormone) (tertiary hypercortisolism/hypercorticism). This causes the blood ACTH levels to be elevated along with cortisol from the adrenal gland. The ACTH levels remain high because the tumor is unresponsive to negative feedback from high cortisol levels.
Cushing's disease is not to be confused with Ectopic Cushing syndrome (aka Ectopic ACTH syndrome), which is often seen in Paraneoplastic syndrome.
See ICD-10 classification: http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2010/en#/E24.0
Cushing's Syndrome was also the first autoimmune disease identified in humans.
Read more about this topic: Cushing's Syndrome