Sex influences adrenal glucocorticoid responses to ACTH in experimental animals. Whether similar sex differences operate in humans is unknown. To test this notion, we estimated ACTH-cortisol dose-response properties analytically in 48 healthy adults (n = 22 women, n = 26 men), ages 18-77 yr, body mass index (BMI) 18-32 kg/m(2), previously studied at two medical centers. Plasma ACTH and cortisol...

BACKGROUND For the conclusive diagnosis of Cushing's Syndrome, a stimulating ACTH test or a low suppressive Dexamethasone test is used. Reports in other species than the dog indicate that plasma cortisol concentration after ACTH administration is affected by gender. We investigated the effect of gender on the cortisol response to ACTH and Dexamethasone tests in dogs. METHODS Seven healthy adu...

We report a case of double male syndrome, a type of Klinefelter's syndrome with 48,XXYY chromosome, associated with acromegaloidism. Although the patient presented acromegalic appearance, he did not show hypersecretion of growth hormone (GH). GH provocation tests revealed a rather low GH responses or no responses. After testosterone therapy, the GH responses were normalized except to Insulin to...

We recently reported that stimulation with high-dose ACTH caused different responses in terms of aldosterone secretion in aldosterone-producing adenomas (APAs) and idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA) in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA). However, the role of endogenous ACTH in aldosterone secretion in PA has not been systematically evaluated. In this study, we examined diurnal changes in...

BackgroundWorldwide, adults and children are at risk of adrenal insufficiency as a result suppression from use anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids opiates, well infectious diseases. The adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) stimulation test is the reference standard for diagnosis but requires clinic attendance venesection. Salivary cortisone reflects free serum cortisol, samples can be collected home posted...

Mitochondrial dysfunction has a critical role in the pathophysiology of mood disorders and treatment response. To investigate this, we established an animal model exhibiting a state of antidepressant treatment resistance in male Wistar rats using 21 days of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) administration (100 μg per day). First, the effect of ACTH treatment on the efficacy of imipramine (10 m...

BACKGROUND To evaluate the concept of critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency (CIRCI) by studying the clinical significance, in terms of risk factors and outcome, of changes in the cortisol response to repeated adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) testing in the course of critical illness. PATIENTS AND METHODS In a retrospective study in a medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU...

From January 1987 to December 2011, over a total of 25 years, 84 patients with Cushing's syndrome (CS) were identified at a medical center in southern Taiwan. We observed a higher incidence of ACTH-independent CS (75%) than ACTH-dependent CS (25%). A higher incidence of adrenocortical adenoma (58.3%) than Cushing's disease (CD, 21.4%) was also found. The sensitivity of the definitive diagnostic...

Adrenocortical insufficiency is a serious complication of AIDS. Usually, integrity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in AIDS patients is assessed by measuring basal cortisol levels and cortisol response to 250 microg of ACTH. Recent studies suggest that a lower ACTH dose increases the sensitivity of the procedure. In the present study, we investigated the prevalence of adrenal hyp...