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Endocrine Abstracts (2017) 49 GP19 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.49.GP19

ECE2017 Guided Posters Adrenal 2 (10 abstracts)

Plasma cortisol and aldosterone responses to insulin tolerance test and sodium depletion in women with non classic 21-hydroxylase deficiency caused by bi-allelic CYP21A2 mutations (NC-CAH)

Peter Kamenicky 1, , Anne Blanchard 3 , Antonin Lamaziere 4 , Bruno Donadille 4 , Lise Duranteau 1 , Sylvie Salenave 1 , Laurence Pietri 5 , Marie Laure Raffin-Sanson 6 , Jean-François Gautier 7 , Philippe Chanson 1, , Sophie Christin Maitre 4 , Veronique Tardy 8 , Yves Le Bouc 4 , Sylvie Brailly-Tabard 1 & Jacques Young 1,


1APHP Hôpital Bicêtre, Paris, France; 2University Paris Sud- Reproductive Endocrinology, Paris, France; 3APHP Hôpital Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; 4APHP-UPMC Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France; 5Hôpital Saint Joseph, Paris, France; 6APHP Hôpital Ambroise Paré, Paris, France; 7APHP Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris, France; 8Hôpital Nord-Hôpitaux Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.


NC-CAH is diagnosed in pubertal/post-pubertal women because of androgen excess however, the risk of potential adrenal insufficiency is not known, and indication of systematic glucocorticoid replacement therapy is controversial.

Design: Prospective controlled clinical study in a tertiary referral center. 20 women with NC-CAH (serum stimulated 17-OHP >10 ng/ml/250 μg, Synacthen) comparatively to matched healthy women, were included if they had not receive glucocorticoid treatment >1 year and estrogen-based oral contraception stopped >3 months. Each participant underwent sequentially two tests separated by a 2 to 7-days: insulin tolerance gold standard test (ITT) and a sodium depletion test (oral 40 mg furosemide under low sodium diet) to stimulate both endogenous active renin (AR) and aldosterone. Steroid levels measured by LC-MSMS.

Results: NC-CAH had lower pic plasma cortisol concentrations during ITT than healthy women: 17.2 μg/dl (13.1–22.8) vs 21.2 μg/dl (17.1–33.5), P=0.0002. A peak plasma cortisol above 17.0 μg/dl was obtained in all controls but only in 60% NC-CAH women. NC-CAH had higher baseline ACTH and AR levels. 24-h after sodium depletion, mean plasma aldosterone levels were comparable between the two groups, but NC-CAH women had higher (P=0.003) stimulated AR levels than healthy women: 67 mUI/l (15–156) vs 39 mUI/l (6–87).

Conclusions: Forty percent women with NC-CAH have subnormal glucocorticoid adrenal function. Their aldosterone secretion was maintained normal by increased AR levels. Besides androgen excess therapy, clinical management of NC-CAH women should include assessment of their cortisol and aldosterone secretion; systematic chronic replacement therapy is still an open question, but transient glucocorticoid supplementation and rehydration during periods of stress should be considered.

Volume 49

19th European Congress of Endocrinology

Lisbon, Portugal
20 May 2017 - 23 May 2017

European Society of Endocrinology 

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