Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is known to act as an endocrine disruptor in different organs. However, its impact on adrenal gland functionality is largely unknown. This also applies to its substitute substances bisphenol F (BPF) and S (BPS). Therefore, experiments addressing this subject are urgently needed.Methods: The human adrenocortical cell lines NCI-H295R and MUC-1 were treated with increasing concentrations (1 nM – 1 mM) o...

Background: The diagnostic workup of primary aldosteronism (PA) is challenging and the current screening tool, aldosterone-renin ratio, is increasingly challenged. Due to interference with immunoassays and the general high variability of plasma aldosterone levels false-positive as well as false-negative results are probably more frequent than previously assumed. Therefore, we aimed at the establishment of a reliable LC-MS/MS method to analyze aldosterone and related steroids i...

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) acts as an endocrine disruptor in different endocrine systmes. However, its impact on the adrenal cortex and steroidogenesis is largely unknown. This also applies to its substitute substances bisphenol F (BPF) and S (BPS). Therefore, experiments addressing this subject are urgently needed.Methods: The human adrenocortical cell lines NCI-H295R and MUC-1 were treated with increasing concentrations (1 nM–1 mM) of bisphenol...

Background: Serum liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) steroid profiling is used for the diagnosis of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). Guidelines recommend endocrine work-up in addition to radiological imaging for follow-up in ACC, but data on this topic are scarce.Aim: To retrospectively investigate an earlier detection of a recurrent or progressive disease by using endocrine follow-up with LC–MS/MS measurements in com...

Objective: The saline infusion test (SIT) is a standard confirmatory test for primary aldosteronism (PA) and based on impaired aldosterone suppression in PA compared to essential hypertension (EH). In the past, aldosterone was quantified using immunoassays (IA). Due to the more widespread use of liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in clinical routine, we aimed at a method-specific aldosterone threshold for the diagnosis of PA during SIT and explored the d...

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a complex condition of pregnancy, associated with substantial perinatal morbidity and mortality, affecting 2% to 8% of pregnancies worldwide. Its hallmarks are high blood pressure (hypertension) and endothelial dysfunction, leading to potential end-organ injury. Affected organ systems include liver, blood, kidneys, brain and placenta. In the present study, we investigated steroid hormones such as progestagens, estrogens, androgens, and glucocor...

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a serious and complex pregnancy-related condition, characterized by hypertension and endothelial dysfunction, which can potentially damage liver, brain and kidneys, resulting to an increased perinatal morbidity and mortality. We investigated pregnancy-related steroid hormones such as progestogens, estrogens, androgens, and glucocorticoids to assess maternal and fetal development. We aim to compare steroid hormone profiles throughout pregnancy, ...

Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare and aggressive endocrine malignancy with poor prognosis and very limited treatment options in advanced disease. The only curative approach is complete surgical resection. Additionally, 60% of patients show endogenous glucocorticoid (GC) excess with clinical apparent hypercortisolism and low to no immune cell infiltration. To date, no therapeutically relevant surface markers are known for ACC, which is why it has not been con...

Background: The human cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2W1 is involved in the metabolism of several endogenous substrates, including lysophospholipids and fatty acids. Using a polyclonal antibody, we previously demonstrated a high CYP2W1 immunoreactivity in adrenocortical tumors, particularly in those secreting steroids. The aim of the study was to better elucidate the relationship between CYP2W1 and steroid secretion in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) H295R cell line and in a larger seri...