Endocrine Abstracts

The human adrenal gland develops from around 4 weeks gestation and undergoes distinct changes throughout pre- and post-natal life. Defects in these processes can cause adrenal hypoplasia and result in adrenal insufficiency. Adrenal hypoplasia can be: i) secondary to abnormal pituitary function, ACTH synthesis or splicing; ii) the result of ACTH resistance (familial glucocorticoid deficiency; triple A syndrome); or iii) due to a primary defect in adrenal development itself (pri...