Endocrine Abstracts

P450 oxidoreductase (POR) has a pivotal role as electron donor to all cytochrome P450 enzymes that are microsomally located, i.e. CYP type II enzymes. Importantly, those include key enzymes involved in glucocorticoid and sex steroid biosynthesis such as CYP17 and CYP21. In addition, the activity of hepatic CYP enzymes involved in drug metabolism and detoxification also crucially depend on the transfer of electrons from NADPH via POR. Recently, mutations in P450 oxidoreductase ...

Introduction: Early-onset androgen excess commonly presents in pre-pubertal girls as premature adrenarche (PA). Girls with PA have clinical signs of androgen excess, such as pubic/axillary hair, body odour, greasy hair, and moderately elevated adrenal androgens before their 8th birthday. There is conflicting evidence if girls with PA are at higher risk to have or develop metabolic dysfunction, or progress to developing Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), the mos...

Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is the gold standard for urinary steroid profiling. Our established GC-MS method quantifies mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, and androgens. GC-MS assays require chemical derivatisation and long run times, rendering them unsuitable for high-throughput analysis. Our aim was to develop and validate a high-throughput urinary steroid profiling method using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-LC...

Background: Androgen excess frequently manifests in pre-pubertal children as premature adrenarche (PA). PA is characterised by the development of pubic and axillary hair, adult-type body odour in girls <8yrs and in boys <9yrs. PA may be a forerunner condition of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a complex metabolic disorder characterised by androgen excess. It is well established that women with PCOS have high risk of insulin resistance and frequently develop type 2 di...

Introduction: Obesity is a global health challenge with more than 60% of the world´s population with obesity living in LMICs. Studies have demonstrated that women are more affected by obesity than men. However, the risk of obesity and obesity-related cardiometabolic diseases in women in LMICs have not been documented. The aims of this meta-analysis are: to evaluate the risk of obesity and obesity-related cardiometabolic disease in women compared to men in LMICs and to eva...

Background: Primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI) predisposes patients to infections, which can precipitate life-threatening adrenal crises. PAI patients are thought to be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19; however, little is known about its true impact on this group.Aim: To assess morbidity and health promotion attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic amongst a large cohort of PAI patients.Methods: In May 2020 COVID-19 information, ...

Background: Benign adrenal incidentalomas (AI) are found in 3-5% of adults. All patients should undergo a 1 mg -overnight dexamethasone suppression test (1 mg -DST) to exclude cortisol excess (non-functioning adrenal tumours, NFAT; serum cortisol ≤50 nmol/l) or diagnose possible mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS; serum cortisol >50 nmol/l). Current guidelines discourage repeating hormonal work-up in patients with benign AI. However, data underpinning this reco...

Introduction: Knowledge about end-user perceptions is important to ensure educational resources have maximal impact.Objective: To understand school children’s perceptions and ideas about three endocrine topics.Methods: This activity was done as part of Society for Endocrinology public engagement grant. Years 5 and 6 school children (aged 10-11 years) from Nonsuch Primary School in Birmingham were invited to create posters on t...

Comprehensive multi-steroid profiling offers a powerful tool for the investigation, diagnosis and management of steroidogenic disorders by simultaneously quantifying multiple steroids from several pathways of steroid biosynthesis and metabolism. Difficulties can arise when optimising chromatography and mass spectrometry conditions for many analytes in a single method. Low concentrations of ammonium fluoride have previously been shown to enhance the sensitivity of select analyt...

Background: The incidence of adrenal crisis remains constant, despite the introduction of behavioural interventions to educate and empower patients. To increase the success of future behaviour change interventions, theoretically informed and empirically supported behaviour change frameworks are available. The current review aimed to identify and evaluate available evidence of interventions used to prevent adrenal crisis in people with primary adrenal insufficiency to inform fu...