Endocrine Abstracts

New research claims, for the first time, that gut microbiota affect hypertension in rats but authors were unaware of historical research indicating this link. The urine steroid metabolome by gas chromatography of a patient with congenital adrenal hyperplasia from 17-hydroxylase (CYP17) deficiency was reported in 1978. Many of the steroids were 21-deoxy products of corticosterone and could be hypertensinogenic or glycerrhitinic acid like factors. Further studies in CYP17 defici...

Conventional hydrocortisone dosing does not mimic the normal cortisol circadian rhythm making treatment optimisation difficult in patients with adrenal insufficiency. We described the first use of a continuous variable subcutaneous hydrocortisone infusion (CSHI) via an insulin pump to replace cortisol in a patient with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) to mimic the normal plasma cortisol circadian rhythm. We report the long term experience of CSHI in seven patients with adr...

The aim of cortisol replacement in adrenal insufficiency is to mimic the normal cortisol circadian rhythm. Timing of the last dose varies. Paediatric practice doses as close to midnight or after as possible compared to no dose after 18.00 h in adults. Using a detailed questionnaire, we ascertained side effect prevalence in 226 patients with adrenal insufficiency (77 CAH, 82 Addison, 67 hypopituitarism) and compared frequency of problems with timing glucocorticoid replacement. ...

Hydrocortisone therapy should be individualised in patients with adrenal insufficiency to avoid over and under replacement. We assessed hydrocortisone absorbtion at different times of day which may impact on treatment regimens. We assessed the oral absorption of hydrocortisone in 48 patients (21M) aged between 6.1 and 20.3 years with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to P450c21 deficiency. Hydrocortisone dosing ranged between 11.5 and 22.6 mg/m2 per day in three or...