Endocrine Abstracts

The mineralocorticoid hormone aldosterone is secreted by the adrenal cortex. It plays a major role in maintaining water and electrolyte balance and hence blood pressure homeostasis by the kidneys. The aldosterone synthesizing zona glomerulosa of the adrenal cortex is a highly vascularized region. This allows a complex and articulated interaction between the steroidogenic cells and the vascular endothelial cells regulating the hormonal output.In this stud...

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulphate ester DHEAS are neurosteroids with potential effects on neurogenesis, neuronal survival and neuronal stem cells proliferation. DHEA is produced by the inner adrenocortical zone, which is in direct contact to the adrenomedullary chromaffin. Unlike the closely related sympathetic neurons, chromaffin cells are able to proliferate throughout the life span. The aim of the present study was to examine in vitro the effect of DHEA ...