Endocrine Abstracts

Aging in both men and women is linked with a decline in diurnal variations in cortisol secretion. Cortisol secretion is increased during circadian nadir and possibly in total through the day. Reduced suppressibility of cortisol after dexamethasone (DEX) administration and increased ACTH secretion with aging are well documented. It appears that aging associates with the decrease in cortisol negative feedback efficacy on HPA axis due to underexpression of mineralocorticoid recep...

‘Stress’ is defined as a state of disharmony or threatened homeostasis. Pregnancy is a transient period of relative hypercortisolism. Chronic or acute stressors influence maternal and fetal Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axes (HPA) during pregnancy. Insulin sensitivity is a feature of normal pregnancy, possibly reflecting an adaptive phenomenon aiming at diverting maternal glucose towards fetal needs. We investigated the effect of maternal stress into maternal insuli...

Steroid hormones have potent metabolic effects. Glucocorticoid excess is characterized by central adiposity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and increased cardiovascular risk. Whilst endogenous glucocorticoid excess is rare, local tissue-specific availability of glucocorticoid is controlled by a series of enzymes that are, at a pre-receptor level, able to regulate cortisol’s ability to bind and activate the glucocorticoid receptor. 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenas...