Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The urinary steroid metabolome is considered the fingerprint of adrenal gland function. Novel methods using mass spectrometry profiling have seen the advent of a new era for metabolomics with powerful implications for both diagnostics and discovery. Its interpretation is difficult and performed by few specialists with the expertise to do so. This makes it a relatively inaccessible tool for the majority of Clinical Endocrinologists.Objective: ...

Background: Urinary steroid metabolite profiling is an accurate reflection of adrenal and gonadal steroid output and metabolism in peripheral target cells of steroid action. Measurement of steroid metabolite excretion by gas chromatography-–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) is considered reference standard for biochemical diagnosis of steroidogenic disorders. However, performance of GC–MS analysis and interpretation of the resulting data requires significant expertise a...

Background: Measurement of steroid metabolite excretion in urine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) provides a comprehensive profile of an individual’s adrenal and gonadal steroid production. It has long been acknowledged as a useful tool for diagnosis of inborn disorders of steroidogenesis leading to congenital adrenal hyperplasia and disorders of sex development. Ratios of steroid metabolites can be employed as surrogates for enzymatic activities of distinc...