ESPEYB21 8. Adrenals Important for Clinical Practice (8 abstracts)
Sci Transl Med. 2023; 15(701): eadg8464. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37343084/
Brief Summary: This paper describes a novel ambulatory fraction collector that can be used with microdialysis to obtain high resolution steroid profiles over a 24-hour period.
Comment: The natural circadian and ultradian secretion of adrenal hormones makes single timepoint measurements of these hormones uninformative for clinical decision making (1-3). Repeated sampling during the day requires admission into an atypical, and often disruptive, clinical setting, particularly if overnight sampling is attempted. These authors addressed this issue by developing an ambulatory fraction collector that can be used with microdialysis to collect samples continuously throughout the day without interfering with daily activities.
They enrolled 214 healthy individuals to collect 24-hour steroid profiles, using this new ambulatory sampling method for cortisol, cortisone, corticosterone, 18-hydroxycortisol, aldosterone, tetrahydrocortisol, allo-tetrahydrocortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate. The study provides data on the normal physiology and dynamics of tissue steroids, as well as normal reference values. These can be used further to define changes associated with adrenal disease, alongside a powerful methodology to improve personalized replacement therapy.
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