Endocrine Abstracts

Although life expectancy is increasing, deterioration in many tissues with age can substantially impair quality of life. Muscle loss and weakness, decreased bone density leading to fractures, insulin resistance leading to diabetic complications and cognitive decline increase substantially with age. These features are also seen in patients treated with high doses of glucocorticoids raising the possibility that glucocorticoids could be involved in the ageing process. However, ci...

The aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2), being 93 % identical in its primary structure to CYP11B1, catalyses the 11beta-hydroxylation, 18-hydroxylation and 18-oxidation of deoxycorticosterone to form aldosterone. CYP11B2 is an important target for the development of drugs, since overproduction of aldosterone may lead to hypertension as well as heart failure. Thus, besides the mineralocorticoid receptor, CYP11B2 seems to be a potent target for drug development. To find specific inhi...

The production of oestradiol (E2) is paramount for the growth of oestrogen receptor α positive breast cancer. Various strategies have been used, including the use of enzyme inhibitors against either aromatase (AROM) or steroid sulphatase (STS), in an attempt to ablate E2 levels. Both these enzymes play a critical role in the formation of oestrogenic steroids (see figure 1) and their inhibitors are now showing success in the clinic. The studies presented here demonstrate t...

Prostate cancer development and progression depend on androgen signaling through the androgen receptor (AR). Recent evidence indicates the continued presence of intratumoral dihydrotestosterone (DHT) during androgen deprivation therapy drives prostate cancer recurrence through the activation of AR. There are ongoing efforts to identify drugs that target AR and enzymes that catalyze the synthesis of testosterone and DHT. Temporary remediation of prostate cancer by surgical or m...