Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Evidence from a Needs Analysis (2006) and Patient Satisfaction Survey (2008) for people with pituitary conditions suggested infertility was a key yet unexpected problem for the majority of respondents. Being infertile without the co-morbidity of pituitary condition confers a huge emotional burden on the individual. The aim of this piece of research was to investigate individual’s perceptions of managing infertility following a diagnosis of a pituitary conditio...

In late pregnancy, the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is less responsive to immune challenge(1). Circulating and brain levels of allopregnanolone (AP), a neuroactive steroid and allosteric enhancer at inhibitory GABAA receptors, increase during pregnancy(2) and AP treatment attenuates stress-induced HPA activity in male rats(3). Here we sought a role for AP in attenuated HPA axis responses to interleukin-1-beta (IL-1B) in pregnant rats. Conscious pregnant (day 21) an...