Endocrine Abstracts

The hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is essential component of the physiological stress response. Functional hypoadrenalism is a hypothetical contributor to mortality in the critically ill, though biochemical evidence for this is conflicting. Most studies have shown that 'high' random plasma cortisol in the first 24 hours of illness is associated with a high mortality. However, these data may be confounded by increased severity of illness in high mortality cohorts. Giv...

A gender-related bias in survival rates has been demonstrated in rodent models of critical illness. Sex steroids have differential effects on metabolic, immune and cardiovascular end points which may underlie these observations. The hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis response to critical illness in humans is poorly characterised. We have conducted a prospective study to characterise this response in the context of heterogeneous disease severity and disturbances in overal...