Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: To document influences of sampling of blood under supine fasting versus seated non-fasting conditions on diagnosis of pheochromocytoma using plasma concentrations of normetanephrine, metanephrine and methoxytyramine (P-NMN/MN/MTY).Design and methods: P-NMN/MN/MTY were measured by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry in 695 patients at five centers, two of which complied with requirements for supine sampling after an overnight fa...

Context: Unilateral adrenalectomy is the therapy of first choice in aldosterone producing adenoma (APA). Improvement of blood pressure (BP) and hypokalemia is achieved in the majority of patients. Because of hypoaldosteronism, hyperkalemia can develop in the postoperative course. Our aim was to analyze the frequency of hyperkalemia, to determine the cause of hypoaldosteronism and to assess the influence of preoperative mineralocorticoid antagonist (MRA) therapy at our center.<...

Background: Adrenal crisis (AC) is a life-threatening complication in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to classical 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD). AC was defined as an acute state of health impairment which required i.v. glucocorticoid administration and hospital admission. No data on AC over life-time in 21-OHD is available.Study design: In a retrospective study AC was studied following two approaches: a) questionnaire-based: 122 ad...

In an attempt to define novel genetic loci involved in the pathophysiology of primary aldosteronism a mutagenesis screen after treatment with the alkylating agent N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea was established for the parameter aldosterone. One of the established mouse lines with hyperaldosteronism was phenotypically and genetically characterized. Affected animals showed an increased aldosterone to renin ratio (males unaffected, 1.1±0.1 pg/ml per ng per ml per hour v...

Although primary aldosteronism (PA) is considered to be the most prevalent cause of secondary hypertension the underlying genetic mechanisms have been elucidated only for the rare familial forms of the disease. In an attempt to define novel genetic loci involved in the pathophysiology of PA a phenotype-driven mutagenesis screening after treatment with the alkylating agent N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea was established for the parameter aldosterone. The aldosterone values ...

Introduction: Surgery is the established first line treatment in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). For benign adrenal tumours, laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) has become the treatment of choice. However, the role of LA in ACC remains highly controversial. Data from the German ACC Registry were used to evaluate the technical feasibility of LA in ACC and to compare the long-term outcome after LA with the results of open adrenalectomy (OA).Methods: Out of 521...

The melanocortin system is significant for energy homeostasis and receptors have distinct tissue specific expression. The melanocortin 2-receptor (Mc2r) transmits ACTH dependent signalling in the adrenal cortex. Increased expression in adipocytes during differentiation indicates relevance for lipid homeostasis. Mc2r activation in adipocytes results in increased lipolysis, however, implication compared to norepinephrine (NE) stimulated lipolysis is unknown. To further define fu...

Objectives: No immunohistochemical marker has yet been established to reliably differentiate adrenocortical tumors from other adrenal masses (e.g. metastases). Thus, a panel of several markers like melan A and inhibin is currently used for this purpose, but suffers from limited diagnostic accuracy. We hypothesized that expression of steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1), a nuclear transcription factor involved in adrenal development and steroidogenesis, might hold significant diagnost...

According to recent studies, primary aldosteronism is considered to be responsible for almost 10% of all cases of arterial hypertension. The genetic background of this common disease, however, has been elucidated only for the rare familial types whereas in the large majority of sporadic cases it still remains unclear. In an attempt to define novel genetic mechanisms of hyperaldosteronism we utilized a random mutagenesis screen after treatment with the alkylating agent N...

Adrenal masses are highly prevalent tumours comprising of a variety of entities. Therefore, therapeutic consequences also vary considerably. The CYP11B-specific PET-tracer [11C]metomidate has been shown to be suitable to characterize adrenal lesions. However, its availability is restricted to PET-centers with an on-site cyclotron. Also imaging is hindered by the short tracer half-life (20 min). Therefore, we have developed [123I]iodometomidate as a tracer...