Adrenal News

Today, the only approved treatment for adrenal cortical carcinoma is mitotane, a derivative of DDT — a toxic pesticide banned since 1972. This is a problem. This needs to change.

Varying psychosocial outcomes may be related to the clinical severity of congenital adrenal hyperplasia, according to data published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Genetic variations of the catalytic subunit of cyclic protein kinase A, or PKA, were linked to the development of bilateral adrenal hyperplasias and unilateral cortisol-producing adrenal adenomas. These effects may activate corticotropin-independent Cushing’s syndrome, according to data published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Continuous subcutaneous hydrocortisone infusion was a safe approach for decreasing adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol levels to a normal circadian level with minimal adverse effects on glucocorticoid metabolism compared with conventional oral hydrocortisone replacement therapy, according to results in a prospective crossover study.

Lower morning cortisol reactivity and higher evening salivary cortisol levels may indicate frailty in older patients, according to data.

Stereotactic radiosurgery may yield favorable remission response rates in patients with acromegaly with a low rate of adverse events, according to data published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

In patients with craniopharyngiomas, complex treatments were predictive of postoperative visual dysfunction while diabetes insipidus was associated with greater rates of anterior pituitary hormone dysfunction and an increased weakness for gender-independent weight gain, according to data published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

In nonobese women undergoing in vitro fertilization, luteinized granulosa cells are able to produce 21-hydroxylase-derived mineralocorticoids from cholesterol-containing lipids, thus inducing postovulatory luteinization, recent study data found.

Patients with adrenal incidentalomas and mild hypercortisolism have an increased risk for cardiovascular events and mortality. This risk was evident even when clinical signs of overt hypercortisolism were not present, according to data published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Patients with acromegaly who took long-acting pasireotide obtained better biochemical control than those who took long-acting octreotide, recent prospective data suggest.