ECE2022 Eposter Presentations Adrenal and Cardiovascular Endocrinology (131 abstracts)
The asymmetric adrenal in mice and men: Sexual dimorphism and potential hormonal consequences
Nicole Bechmann 1,2 , Mats Leif Moskopp 3 , Deepika Watts 4 , Charlotte Steenblock 2 , Waldemar Kanczkowski 2 , Ben Wielockx 4 , Stefan R Bornstein 2 , Mirko Peitzsch 4 & Graeme Eisenhofer 2,4
1Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany; 2Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany; 3Department of Neurosurgery, Vivantes Friedrichshain Hospital, Charité Academic Teaching Hospital, Germany; 4Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
Evidence indicates that the adrenals are sexually dimorphic and asymmetric. These differences may have implications for the prevalence and progression of adrenal diseases, which also show asymmetry and sexual dimorphism. The present study aims to characterize the morphological and metabolic differences associated with adrenal sex and asymmetry in mice and humans. Adrenals were compared bilaterally in male and female C57B/6NRj mice with regard to morphological and hormonal characteristics. Female adrenals were consistently larger than male adrenals (330.2±14.7 vs. 215.4±15.8 μg protein/adrenal, P<0.001). Although males had smaller adrenals, total contents of catecholamines were higher in males than in females (mean both adrenals: 3.8±0.3 vs. 3.5±0.2 μg catecholamines/adrenal). In contrast, adrenal contents of the two main adrenal steroids, corticosterone and aldosterone, were significantly higher in females than males. In females, the right adrenal was significantly smaller than the left adrenal (295.3±19.0 vs. 365.2±12.9 μg protein/adrenal, P=0.03), whereas no clear differences were observed in males. In both sexes, total tissue catecholamines as well as corticosterone and aldosterone were higher in the left than the right adrenal. We confirmed these findings in three additional mouse strains (C57BL/6J, CD6 and Tie2 GFP/FVB). Furthermore, we performed a systematic review of adrenal imaging data in humans. Unlike in mice, women have smaller adrenals than men, but also in humans the left adrenal gland is larger than the right adrenal. Using adrenal vein samples and human adrenal tissue data, we will further characterize hormonal differences in patients. Characterization of differences between sexes and of adrenal asymmetry in mice and humans may have implications for prediction and diagnosis of adrenal disease, and it may also allow improved translation of results from experimental murine models to the clinic.
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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