Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Rapid and accurate risk stratification in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is an unmet clinical need. Cortisol to DHEA ratio was put forward as a prognostic marker in sepsis. We herein validated the prognostic value of DHEA and DHEAS and of cortisol/DHEA- and cortisol-DHEAS – ratios, respectively, in patients with CAP as the most common (disease resulting) sepsis-defining illness.Methods: We assessed clinical parameters a...

Recent in-vitro studies have shown that vitamin D metabolites undergo conjugation reactions by sulfation and glucuronidation and may be important mechanisms for the inactivation, storage and excretion of analytes. However the circulating concentrations and clinical significance of phase II vitamin D conjugation is unclear as current analysis has almost exclusively been restricted to measuring their unconjugated metabolite forms. In this study we aimed to develop an analytical ...

Background: Patients with adrenal insufficiency suffer from increased morbidity and mortality. Quantitative evidence on the health-care burden of either primary (PAI) or secondary adrenal insufficiency (SAI) among hospitalized medical patients is scarce.Methods: In this observational cohort study, we analysed nationwide acute care hospitalizations from patients with PAI or SAI, respectively, between 2011 and 2015 using prospective administrative data. Pa...

Background: Hyponatremia is the most prevalent electrolyte disorder in hospitalized adult medical patients and is associated with a significant healthcare resource burden. However, evidence remains scarce whether hyponatremia is a marker of disease severity or whether it has an independent effect on clinical outcomes.Methods: In this nationwide cohort study, we analyzed medical inpatients with hyponatremia diagnosed between January 2009 through December ...

Background: Low testosterone levels in men appear to be an independent cardiovascular risk factor closely associated with the metabolic syndrome. Reciprocally, the metabolic syndrome leads to a decrease in testosterone levels, suggesting a bidirectional relationship. It has been hypothesized that increased inflammation is causative for the development of obesity-associated hypogonadism. However, clinical evidence supporting this hypothesis is lacking. The aim of the present st...

Thyroid hormones (THs) play a critical role in the regulation of growth and development in both animals and humans. They regulate metabolism primarily through actions in the brain, white fat, brown fat, skeletal muscle, liver and pancreas. Therefore, it is not surprising that since a long time scientists have been interested in measuring TH concentration in different tissues and to relate this value with possible dysfunctions. In general, TH levels are measured by immunoassay ...

Steroid hormones are important regulators of many physiological processes. The steroid precursor pregnenolone is converted through several enzymatic steps into all types of steroids, including the stress hormone cortisol. Mitochondrial steroidogenic cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes crucially relying on electron transfer from the redox partner ferredoxin (FDX1) are involved in key steps of the cortisol biosynthesis pathway.Cortisol is well-known regulator of...

Introduction: We retrospectively evaluated all patients with adrenal tumours treated in our Department from 1.1.1999 to 1.10.2013.Patients and methods: 189 patients (110 females: 79 males, mean age of 57.5 years) were treated because of adrenal tumours. All patients underwent hormonal analysis and testing in order to check for hormonal activity. Tumours were classified according to gender, age at diagnosis, tumour localisation and size, as well as benign...

Mitochondrial steroidogenic cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, such as P450 side-chain cleavage, rely on electron transfer from the redox partner ferredoxin (FDX1) for catalytic activity. Previous in vitro data suggest these cofactors are key regulators of CYP enzyme activity. This study aims to establish the role of redox regulation on steroidogenesis using zebrafish as a vertebrate in vivo model.In contrast to humans, zebrafish have two F...

Background: Copeptin (CP), a derivate from the antidiuretic hormone (ADH) precursor pre-pro-vasopressin, stochiometrically mirrors ADH secretion. CP is increasingly evaluated as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in different diseases. It is therefore important to recognize possible confounding factors when interpreting CP levels. In healthy regularly menstruating women, there is a small but measurable physiological variability of hormones involved in fluid regulation. ADH ...