OBJECTIVE To determine if insulin or glucose action plays a role in adrenocortical steroidogenesis in the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Academic medical center. PATIENT(S) Nine reproductive-aged patients with PCOS and nine age-, race-, and body mass index-matched controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Insulin-modified frequently sampled intravenou...

OBJECTIVE Interleukin 6 (IL6) has the ability to influence each level of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. The aim of the study was to test whether IL6 concentration correlates with the adrenal cortex response to ACTH in healthy humans. We postulated that higher basal IL6 concentration would be associated with the higher cortisol response to the stimulation. DESIGN AND METH...

BACKGROUND Acute phase proteins (APPS) include haptoglobin (Hp), C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA). Increased Hp concentrations may be induced by endogenous or exogenous glucocorticoids in dogs. OBJECTIVES To assess whether control of hyperadrenocorticism (HAC) affects the concentrations of Hp, CRP, SAA, alkaline phosphatase (ALKP) and cholesterol, to determine whether these ...

a 64-year-old male presented with neurofibromatosis 1 and cushing’s syndrome. clinically he was over weight, depressed with extensive skin bruising and hypertension. his 24 hours urinary metanephrines, urinary 5hiaa, gut peptides and chromgranin levels were normal. his renal function and renal mri scan was also normal. his cortisol failed to suppress on overnight dexamethsone suppression test. ...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of low-dose combined oral contraception (COC) on basal and stimulated (1 microg ACTH test) levels of serum and salivary cortisol (F), cortisone and on basal serum cortisol binding globulin (CBG), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), dehydroepiadrosterone (DHEA) and calculated free cortisol in healthy young women. Three-month administratio...

BACKGROUND Ketamine, a noncompetitive N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, is a commonly used dissociative anesthetic in neonatology. We have proposed that ketamine reduces fetal stress responsiveness to stimuli that involve reduced oxygen supply to the fetal brain. Previously, we have shown that ketamine inhibits plasma ACTH levels in late-gestation fetal sheep subjected to brachio...

Lorenz JN, Loreaux EL, Dostanic-Larson I, Lasko V, Schnetzer JR, Paul RJ, Lingrel JB. ACTH-induced hypertension is dependent on the ouabain-binding site of the 2-Na -K -ATPase subunit. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 295: H273–H280, 2008. First published May 16, 2008; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00183.2008.—ACTH-inducedhypertension is commonly employed as a model of stress-related hypertension, and de...

Plasma ACTH and cortisol concentrations are frequently elevated in patients in intensive care units (ICU). To examine the functional integrity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis during critical illness, we evaluated prospectively 53 ICU patients in a general medical ICU. Thirty-one patients and 7 normal controls underwent an overnight dexamethasone suppression test (3 mg dexamethasone, ...

Ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) syndrome is characterized by hypercortisolism due to the hypersecretion of a non-pituitary ACTH-secreting tumor leading to Cushing's syndrome. Only a few cases have been reported previously as causing ectopic ACTH related to paraganglioma. Herein, we present a case of Cushing's syndrome, in who was proved to be attributable to an ACTH-secreting renal m...

An acquired partial pituitary insufficiency with selective ACTH and GH deficiency was demonstrated in two men aged 47 and 54, for which the clinical course over many years corresponds to Addison's disease. In one of the 2 cases, antibodies to anterior pituitary cell membrane, assayed by an immunofluorescence method with GH3 cells (rat GH and prolactin secreting cell) and AtT-20 cells (mouse ACT...