Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Previous issue | Volume 20 | ECE2009 | Next issue

11th European Congress of Endocrinology

Plenary Lectures

Implications of adrenal hormone pulsatility

ea0020pl7 | Implications of adrenal hormone pulsatility | ECE2009

Implications of adrenal hormone pulsatility

Lightman Stafford

The HPA axis has a massive dynamic response rate. At nadir periods (at night in man and during the day in nocturnal rodents) there is a low level of activity which increases up until the circadian peak. This circadian rhythm is made up of an underlying ultradian rhythm of pulsatile glucocorticoid section, with pulse amplitude increasing from the circadian nadir to the circadian peak. Superimposed on this underlying rhythm is, of course, the stress response which can result in ...