Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The differential diagnosis of the polyuria-polydipsia syndrome is challenging. The water-deprivation test is the current gold standard, but the test is cumbersome, and the diagnostic performance is poor. Copeptin, which is a split product of the vasopressin pre-propeptide, appears to be a robust biomarker in the circulation and a promising tool for the diagnosis of patients with polyuria and polydipsia, especially when measured in conjunction with intravenous infus...

Background: Long-term, low-dose prednisolone treatment (≤5mg/day) is associated with adrenal insufficiency in >33% of patients. Nevertheless, the clinical consequences of glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency in patients receiving ongoing low-dose glucocorticoid treatment are unknown. Current clinical guidelines do not recommend routine evaluation of adrenal function during low-dose glucocorticoid treatment, and patients are not routinely instructed to increase gl...

Background: The risk and course of glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency (GIA) are unclear and current evidence is retrospective and based on small and selected study populations. However, the prevalence of glucocorticoid use is at least 3 %, which underscores the need for unbiased and prospective assessment of the prevalence and clinical consequences of GIA.Objectives: To identify biomarkers of GIA as regards diagnosis, prognosis and responsivene...

Background: Glucocorticoid (GC) formulations are widely used as anti-inflammatory treatment, and synthetic GC, e.g. prednisolone, is the cornerstone treatment of polymyalgia rheumatic (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA). Long-term pharmacological GC treatment may induce adrenal insufficiency (GIA). Adrenal function is, however, not routinely assessed after discontinuation of long-term GC treatment, and it is unknown, if hydrocortisone replacement is beneficial. This study aim...