Endocrine Abstracts

The global epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes has hastened the need to identify novel and efficacious therapies. Based upon parallels with Cushing’s syndrome, tissue specific cortisol excess, independent of circulating levels, has been suggested to have a crucial pathological role and may represent a potential treatment target. In key metabolic target tissues (liver, adipose and muscle), the endoluminal enzyme, 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-H...

In the past decades, glucocorticoid (GC) hormones and their cognate, intracellular receptor, the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), have been well established as critical checkpoints in mammalian energy homeostasis. Whereas many aspects in healthy nutrient metabolism require physiological levels and/or action of GC, aberrant GC/GR signalling has been linked to severe metabolic disorders, including obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Consequently, molecular mechanisms w...

There is convincing evidence in animals suggesting a role for prenatal glucocorticoid overexposure in the programming of adult metabolic diseases. Evidence for glucocorticoid-mediated fetal programming in humans often comes from observational studies in preterm babies with variable disease courses, in whom it is difficult to distuinguish programming from other effects.Preterm infants early in their neonatal course are subject to stressful and sometimes e...