Endocrine Abstracts

Methyl oxime–trimethylsilyl (MO-TMS) derivatisation with gas chromatography–mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis has been well established in the analysis of glucocorticoids and is still used in many laboratories for profiling endogenous steroids for clinical purposes. There appears to be a clinical need to extend the analysis to xenobiotic glucocorticoids, primarily to elucidate cases of patients presenting with adverse symptoms associated with glucocorticoid excess,...

Bile acids inhibit glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid metabolism. However bile acids may also influence hormone action by modulating steroidogenesis in the adrenal gland. In rodents adrenal cholesterol supply for steroidogenesis is derived from circulating HDL through the actions of scavenger receptor SR-B1. Since hepatic SR-B1 expression is known to be regulated by bile acids, we have investigated whether adrenal SR-B1 is similarly affected and, if so, whether adrenal lipid...

Glucocorticoids mediate the stress response, regulated via the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis is down-regulated and its responsiveness to stress is impaired in cholestasis. The mechanisms are unknown, but may involve reduced glucocorticoid clearance. Hepatic 5beta-reductase is involved in glucocorticoid inactivation and bile acid biosynthesis. We showed previously that bile acids are potent competitive inhibitors and transcriptional regulator...