Diagnosis and Treatment of Primary Adrenal Insufficiency: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline

"OBJECTIVE: This clinical practice guideline addresses the diagnosis and treatment of primary adrenal insufficiency. PARTICIPANTS: The Task Force included a chair, selected by The Clinical Guidelines Subcommittee of the Endocrine Society, eight additional clinicians experienced with the disease, a methodologist, and a medical writer. The co-sponsoring associations (European Society of Endocrinology and the American Association for Clinical Chemistry) had participating members. The Task Force received no corporate funding or remuneration in connection with this review. EVIDENCE: This evidence-based guideline was developed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system to determine the strength of recommendations and the quality of evidence. CONSENSUS PROCESS: The evidence used to formulate recommendations was derived from two commissioned systematic reviews as well as other published systematic reviews and studies identified by the Task Force. The guideline was reviewed and approved sequentially by the Endocrine Society's Clinical Guidelines Subcommittee and Clinical Affairs Core Committee, members responding to a web posting, and the Endocrine Society Council. At each stage, the Task Force incorporated changes in response to written comments. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend diagnostic tests for the exclusion of primary adrenal insufficiency in all patients with indicative clinical symptoms or signs. In particular, we suggest a low diagnostic (and therapeutic) threshold in acutely ill patients, as well as in patients with predisposing factors. This is also recommended for pregnant women with unexplained persistent nausea, fatigue, and hypotension. We recommend a short corticotropin test (250 µg) as the ""gold standard"" diagnostic tool to establish the diagnosis. If a short corticotropin test is not possible in the first instance, we recommend an initial screening procedure comprising the measurement of morning plasma ACTH and cortisol levels. Diagnosis of the underlying cause should include a validated assay of autoantibodies against 21-hydroxylase. In autoantibody-negative individuals, other causes should be sought. We recommend once-daily fludrocortisone (median, 0.1 mg) and hydrocortisone (15-25 mg/d) or cortisone acetate replacement (20-35 mg/d) applied in two to three daily doses in adults. In children, hydrocortisone (∼8 mg/m(2)/d) is recommended. Patients should be educated about stress dosing and equipped with a steroid card and glucocorticoid preparation for parenteral emergency administration. Follow-up should aim at monitoring appropriate dosing of corticosteroids and associated autoimmune diseases, particularly autoimmune thyroid disease."

Effect of fructose on markers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled feeding trials.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: In the absence of consistent clinical evidence, there are concerns that fructose contributes to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). To determine the effect of fructose on markers of NAFLD, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled feeding trials. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library (through 3 September 2013). We included relevant trials that involved a follow-up of ≥ 7 days. Two reviewers independently extracted relevant data. Data were pooled by the generic inverse variance method using random effects models and expressed as standardized mean difference (SMD) for intrahepatocellular lipids (IHCL) and mean difference (MD) for alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Inter-study heterogeneity was assessed (Cochran Q statistic) and quantified (I(2) statistic). RESULTS: Eligibility criteria were met by eight reports containing 13 trials in 260 healthy participants: seven isocaloric trials, in which fructose was exchanged isocalorically for other carbohydrates, and six hypercaloric trials, in which the diet was supplemented with excess energy (+21-35% energy) from high-dose fructose (+104-220 g/day). Although there was no effect of fructose in isocaloric trials, fructose in hypercaloric trials increased both IHCL (SMD=0.45 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.18, 0.72)) and ALT (MD=4.94 U/l (95% CI: 0.03, 9.85)). LIMITATIONS: Few trials were available for inclusion, most of which were small, short (≤ 4 weeks), and of poor quality. CONCLUSIONS: Isocaloric exchange of fructose for other carbohydrates does not induce NAFLD changes in healthy participants. Fructose providing excess energy at extreme doses, however, does raise IHCL and ALT, an effect that may be more attributable to excess energy than fructose. Larger, longer and higher-quality trials of the effect of fructose on histopathological NAFLD changes are required.

Bone Health in Childhood: Usefulness of Biochemical Biomarkers.

Development of the human skeleton begins in early embryonic life and continues through childhood into early adulthood. The acquisition of peak bone mass during these vulnerable periods may impact on skeletal fragility in later adult years. Once the skeleton has reached maturity, bone remodelling continues with periodic replacement of old bone with new at the same location. Bone biomarkers are specifically derived biomarkers that reflect both formation by osteoblasts and resorption by osteoclasts. Children have significantly higher concentrations of bone biomarkers than adults due to both skeletal growth and rapid bone turnover during childhood and adolescence. Biochemical assessment of markers of bone turnover may be important in the diagnosis, prognosis and management of metabolic bone disease. This review will discuss the various serum bone markers used for assessing bone health and the factors that influence their utility.

Cortisol responses to the insulin hypoglycaemia test in children.

AIM: To determine the timing of the peak cortisol response to the insulin hypoglycaemia (IH) test in children and to establish paediatric reference data. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all IH tests in a tertiary paediatric endocrine referral centre over a 6-year period. Inclusion criteria were age <16 years and adequate hypoglycaemia (glucose < or =2.0 mmol/l). Patients with an impaired hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis or receiving glucocorticoid medication were excluded. Fifty-four subjects (35 males) met the criteria. Blood samples were collected at -30, 0, 20, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 min in relation to insulin bolus injection (0.15 U/kg) at 0 min. Glucose, cortisol, and growth hormone (GH) were measured in all samples. RESULTS: Peak cortisol and GH responses occurred by 90 min in all subjects. Peak cortisol was inversely correlated with age (rs -0.65, p<0.0001). The median (5th centile) peak cortisol value was 689 nmol/l (547 nmol/l) in children younger than 10 years as compared with 555 nmol/l (468 nmol/l) in those older than 10 years (p<0.0001). Peak cortisol was not related to peak GH (rs -0.20, p=0.15). CONCLUSIONS: Blood sampling in the IH test may be curtailed 90 min after injection. The peak cortisol response to IH is age related.

Unreliability of triglyceride measurement to predict turbidity induced interference.

Lipaemic specimens are a common problem in clinical chemistry. Most laboratories will measure the concentration of triglycerides and then decide whether the analytical result is valid or not. There is a poor association between the concentration of triglycerides and an objective assessment of turbidity for visually turbid specimens. Extrapolation of triglyceride concentrations derived from the use of intravenous emulsions to visually turbid specimens found in clinical practice will overestimate the turbidity induced interference in assays (non-turbid interferences are probably the same). The evaluation of turbidity induced interference needs to be standardised using objective assessments of turbidity.

High-efficiency Semliki Forest virus-mediated transduction in bovine adrenal chromaffin cells.

Adrenal chromaffin cells are commonly used in studies of exocytosis. Progress in characterizing the molecular mechanisms has been slow, because no simple, high-efficiency technique is available for introducing and expressing heterologous cDNA in chromaffin cells. Here we demonstrate that Semliki Forest virus (SFV) vectors allow high-efficiency expression of heterologous protein in chromaffin cells.