Endocrine Abstracts

Attenuation of the adrenocortical response to ACTH in septic shock is a well recognised phenomenon, although the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. The evidence points towards factors in septic serum that dampen the adrenocortical responsiveness. The aim of this work is to investigate the cellular function of adrenocortical cells in septic shock and to determine the components within serum that could influence their function. Septic rat serum was collected from ma...

Introduction: Kisspeptin is the endogenous ligand for the G-protein coupled receptor-54 (GPR54 or KiSS1R). During human pregnancy, maternal levels of placental kisspeptin dramatically increase 7000-fold. The physiological significance of this is unknown. A potential target could be the fetal adrenal cortex (FAC), which undergoes rapid growth from 10 weeks gestation, predominantly of the inner fetal zone (FZ). The FZ expresses the steroidogenic enzymes needed for conversion of ...