Endocrine Abstracts

Steroids are central regulators of human physiology and disease. Steroid synthesis does not only taking place in adrenal and gonads but in all cells of the body that are equipped with steroidogenic enzymes, which allows targeted tissue-specific steroid activation and inactivation. We have developed steroid metabolomics as an innovative approach to the understanding of steroid biology by combining mass spectrometry-based steroid measurement with large scale data analysis with m...

The adrenals are at the centre of the steroid universe, with the adrenal cortex producing aldosterone, cortisol and the adrenal androgen precursors DHEA and androstenedione. Hormone excess (or deficiency) is a characteristic feature of the majority of adrenal diseases and recent years have seen major progress in dissecting adrenal steroid excess through novel approaches. This includes steroid metabolomics, the mass spectrometry-based analysis of steroid production in conjuncti...

Wiebke Arlt is the William Withering Chair of Medicine and Director of the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.Wiebke Arlt trained in General Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at the University of Würzburg, Germany, under the auspices of Bruno Allolio, followed by postdoctoral research at the University of California at San Francisc...

This session will offer an opportunity to discuss the best management of adult patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Although one in 5 patients with adrenal insufficiency has CAH as the underlying cause the recent UK CaHASE survey (JCE&M 2010) has shown that less than 10% of adult UK CAH patients receive endocrine specialist care. This contrasts with the need for specialist provision of care by a multi-disciplinary team that is recognised by experts in the fi...

The manifestation of adrenal disorders during pregnancy is a rare but regularly occurring event and can pose significant problems for the involved medical professionals. This lecture will give an overview of the major management issues surrounding disorders of the adrenal cortex during pregnancy. This includes the requirements for the adjustment of corticosteroid replacement therapy in adrenal insufficiency, due to the physiological changes in corticosteroid secretion during p...

Androgen excess is a key feature of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which affects 5–10% of the female population and comes with a significantly increased metabolic risk. Rare disorders often teach us important lessons about common disease and this is highlighted by two novel variants of congenital adrenal hyperplasia we recently identified.In 1985, a patient with combined deficiencies of 17-hydroxylase and 21-hydroxylase was reported. However,...

This lecture will cover clinical-experimental and molecular studies elucidating the role and regulation of the adrenal steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a crucial precursor of human sex steroid synthesis. DHEA and its sulphate ester DHEAS are the most abundant steroids in the human circulation and their intraadrenal synthesis represents a recent evolutionary development, only observed in higher mammals. Only humans and higher non-human primates show an age-specific patter...

Wiebke Arlt, UK AbstractThe European Journal of Endocrinology Prize is awarded to a candidate who has significantly contributed to the advancement of knowledge in the field of endocrinology through publication. This year's recipient is Professor Wiebke Arlt. The prize will be presented as part of the ECE 2009 opening ceremony where Professor Arlt will deliver her lecture. Professor Arlt will als...

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), the major product of the adrenal zona reticularis, is a crucial sex steroid precursor. Suppression of DHEA production in females, e.g. by exogenous glucocorticoids, results in significant overall androgen deficiency. The ovaries contribute to some extent to circulating female androgens, mainly by converting the precursor steroid DHEA to androgens directly binding and activating the androgen receptor, testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. Loss of ...

This lecture will address the timely topic of androgen replacement in women, which according to consensus guidelines should only be carried out if adequate estrogenization is provided. Female androgens either derive from direct ovarian production or from peripheral conversion of the adrenal sex steroid precursor, dehydroepiandrosterone, towards active androgens. Therefore, loss of adrenal or ovarian function, caused by Addison’s disease or consequent to bilateral oophorec...