Endocrine Abstracts

Adrenal steroid hormones are vitally important. Deficient adrenal steroid biosynthesis causing a lack of glucocorticoid and / or mineralocorticoid hormones leads to hypoglycaemia, hypotension, salt loss and death. Concomitant changes in adrenal androgen biosynthesis are responsible for virilisation in females or under-virilisation in males. Because of the importance of adrenal steroids for overall survival and reproduction, defects in steroidogenesis and steroid action are rar...