Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Awarded Two SBIR Grants to Develop New Therapeutics for Congenital Hyperinsulinism and Cushing’s Disease

Posted on September 7, 2017 by MaryO

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a rare disease therapeutics company focused on endocrine disorders and endocrine-related cancers, announced today that it was awarded two new grants from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that could total $2.4 million. Both are Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants and include a Fast Track grant for up to $2.1 million and a Phase I grant of $0.3 million, which will be used for the development of Crinetics’ nonpeptide, oral somatostatin agonists for congenital hyperinsulinemia, and the discovery of novel small molecule drugs for Cushing’s disease, respectively.

“We are delighted with the NIH’s continuing support of our programs to develop new drugs for patients with rare endocrine disorders,” said Stephen Betz, Ph. D., Founder and Vice President of Biology of Crinetics. “These awards will enable us to advance our efforts in both hyperinsulinemia and Cushing’s disease, expanding our pipeline to include these diseases with significant unmet medical needs, and bring these treatments to the patients who need them.”

Presently, there are no medical therapies that were specifically developed to treat the life-threatening chronic hypoglycemia precipitated by congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI). The current options for patients are limited to drugs developed for other purposes in the hope that they might help. Despite their poor profiles, these drugs are prescribed because the next line of treatment is typically a partial or full pancreatectomy. Even when successful, patients who undergo the surgery often become diabetic and must actively manage glucose with multiple daily insulin injections for the rest of their lives.

Similarly, first line treatments for Cushing’s disease are surgical and involve removal of either the ACTH-secreting tumor in the pituitary or the adrenal glands themselves. As this is often unsuccessful, contraindicated or delayed, medical therapy for these patients becomes necessary. Current treatment options include inhibitors of steroid synthesis enzymes that can prevent the production of cortisol and improve symptoms, but these treatments also induce a host of unwanted side effects due to the accumulation of other steroid products.

About Congenital Hyperinsulinism (CHI)

Hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia (HH) is one of the most frequent causes of persistent hypoglycemia in infants and can result in seizures, developmental delays, learning disabilities, and even death. The most severe form of HH is inherited and referred to as CHI. CHI largely results from mutations in key genes in the insulin secretion pathway in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas.

About Cushing’s Disease

Clinical signs of Cushing’s syndrome include growth of fat pads (collarbone, back of neck, face and trunk), excessive sweating, dilation of capillaries, thinning of the skin, muscle weakness, hirsutism, depression/anxiety, hypertension, osteoporosis, insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, heart disease, and a range of other metabolic disturbances resulting in high morbidity. If inadequately controlled in its severe forms, Cushing’s syndrome is associated with high mortality. The most common form of Cushing’s syndrome is Cushing’s disease which is caused by microadenomas of pituitary corticotropic cells that secrete excess adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).

About the NIDDK

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) conducts and supports research on diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutrition, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases. Spanning the full spectrum of medicine and afflicting people of all ages and ethnic groups, these diseases encompass some of the most common, severe, and disabling conditions affecting Americans. For more information about the NIDDK and its programs, visit www.niddk.nih.gov.

About Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals discovers and develops novel therapeutics targeting peptide hormone receptors for the treatment of rare endocrine disorders and endocrine-related cancers. Crinetics was founded by a team of scientists with a proven track record of endocrine drug discovery and development to create important new therapeutic options for endocrinologists and their patients. The company is backed by top life sciences investors, 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, and Vivo Capital and is headquartered in San Diego. For more information, please visit www.crinetics.com.

More: http://www.pharmiweb.com/pressreleases/pressrel.asp?ROW_ID=241628#.WbFJGNN97-Y

Filed under: adrenal, Cushing's, pituitary, Rare Diseases, Treatments | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Mild Cases of Cushing’s Syndrome Present Diagnostic Challenges

Posted on August 16, 2017 by MaryO

By Tori Rodriguez, MA, LPC

 

In the early 20th century, the term “pluriglandular syndrome” was coined by Harvey Cushing to describe the disorder that results from chronic tissue exposure to excessive levels of glucocorticoids.1 Now called Cushing’s syndrome, the condition affects an estimated 10-15 million people annually, most often women and individuals between the ages of 20 and 50 years.2 Risk factors and common comorbidities include hypertension, obesity, osteoporosis, uncontrolled diabetes, depression, and anxiety.3

Presentation

The clinical presentation of the disorder is heterogenous and varies by sex, age, and disease severity. Common signs and symptoms include central adiposity, roundness of the face or extra fat around the neck, thin skin, impaired short-term memory and concentration, irritability, hirsutism in women, fatigue, and menstrual irregularity.4 Because each of these features may be observed in a wide range of other conditions, it may be difficult to diagnose cases that are not severe.

“It can be challenging to differentiate the milder forms from pseudo-Cushing’s states,” which are characterized by altered cortisol production and many of the same clinical features as Cushing’s syndrome, according to Roberto Salvatori, MD, the medical director of the Johns Hopkins Pituitary Center, Baltimore, Maryland. These may include alcoholism, obesity, eating disorders, and depression. “Because Cushing’s can cause depression, for example, it is sometimes difficult to determine which came first,” he says. In these states, however, hypercortisolism is believed to be driven by increased secretion of hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone, which is suppressed in Cushing’s syndrome.5

Causes and Diagnosis

If Cushing’s syndrome is suspected on the basis of the patient’s physical appearance, the diagnostic workup should include a thorough medical history, physical exam, and 1 or more of the following tests to establish hypercortisolism: the 24-hour urinary cortisol test, the low-dose dexamethasone suppression test, or the late-night salivary cortisol test. “We sometimes use 2 or 3 of these tests since 1 may not accurately reflect cortisol production in a particular patient,” Dr Salvatori notes. The next step is to determine the source of the hypercortisolism, which may involve the high-dose dexamethasone suppression test, magnetic resonance imaging, or petrosal sinus sampling.2

Medication is the most common cause of Cushing’s syndrome. These iatrogenic or exogenous cases typically result from corticosteroids administered for conditions such as asthma, allergies, and autoimmune disorders.6 More rarely, the disorder can be caused by the use of medroxyprogesterone. In these cases, corticosteroids should be reduced or discontinued under medical care, if possible.

Endogenous Cushing’s syndrome results from the presence of benign or malignant tumors on the adrenal or pituitary glands or elsewhere in the body. These tumors can interfere with the adrenal glands’ production of cortisol that is usually prompted by the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) released by the pituitary gland.6 There are 3 different mechanisms by which the process can occur.

  • Pituitary adenomas, which account for approximately 70% of endogenous cases of Cushing’s syndrome, secrete ACTH and stimulate additional cortisol production. Because of the large proportion of cases this condition represents, it is specifically referred to as Cushing’s disease. It is more common in women than men (with a ratio of 3 to 4:1), although in pediatric patients, it occurs more frequently in boys vs girls.5
  • Adrenal tumors (adenomas, malignant tumors, or micronodular hyperplasia) produce cortisol in their own tissue in addition to the amount produced by the adrenal glands. These tumors, which cause approximately 15% of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome cases, are more common in children vs adults and in women vs men.
  • Benign or malignant tumors elsewhere in the body, most often the lungs, thyroid, thymus, and pancreas, secrete ACTH and trigger the excessive release of cortisol. An estimated 15% of endogenous cases are attributed to these types of tumors.

Treatment

Surgery is the first-line treatment for Cushing’s syndrome. “We first want to try to figure out the cause of the disorder,” Dr Salvatori says. “Ideally, treatment involves surgery to remove the tumor that is causing it.”

When surgery is unsuccessful, contraindicated, or delayed, other treatment options include radiation or medications that inhibit cortisol, modulate the release of ACTH, or inhibit steroidogenesis.5 Bilateral adrenalectomy may be indicated for patients who do not respond to medication or other surgery.

If surgical resection of the tumor is successful, then “all of the comorbidities reverse, but if it is unsuccessful or must be delayed, you would treat each comorbidity” with the appropriate medication; for example, antihypertensives for high blood pressure and antidiabetic medications for diabetes, Dr Salvatori advises. In severe cases, prophylactic antibiotics may be indicated for the prevention of severe infections such as pneumonia.

It is also important to inquire about and address psychiatric symptoms related to Cushing’s syndrome, even in patients who are in remission. It has been proposed that the chronic hypercortisolism and dysfunction of the HPA axis may “lead to structural and functional changes in the central nervous system, developing brain atrophy, particularly in the hippocampus, which may determine the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders, such as affective and anxiety disorders or cognitive dysfunctions,” according to a recently published paper on the topic.7 Patients should be screened with self-report questionnaires such as the Beck Depression Inventory and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and management of psychiatric symptoms may include patient education, psychotropic medications, and referral to a mental health professional.

Future Directions

Several trials are currently planned or underway, including a phase 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of an oral medication called ATR-101 by Millendo Therapeutics, Inc. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03053271). In addition to the need for novel medical therapies, refined imaging techniques could improve surgical success rates in patients with Cushing’s disease in particular, according to Dr Salvatori. “A significant portion of these patients have tumors too small to be detected by MRI, and the development of more sensitive MRI could improve detection and provide a surgical target” for neurosurgeons treating the patients, he says.

Summary

Milder cases of Cushing’s syndrome present diagnostic challenges are a result overlapping features with various other conditions. Diagnosis may require careful observation as well as biochemical and imaging tests.

RELATED ARTICLES

References

  1. Loriaux DL. Diagnosis and differential diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2017;376:1451-1459. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1505550
  2. American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Cushing’s syndrome/disease. http://www.aans.org/Patients/Neurosurgical-Conditions-and-Treatments/Cushings-Disease. Accessed August 1, 2017.
  3. León-Justel A, Madrazo-Atutxa A, Alvarez-Rios AI, et al. A probabilistic model for cushing’s syndrome screening in at-risk populations: a prospective multicenter study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2016;101:3747-3754. doi:10.1210/jc.2016-1673
  4. The Pituitary Society. Cushing’s syndrome and disease–symptoms. https://pituitarysociety.org/patient-education/pituitary-disorders/cushings/symptoms-of-cushings-disease-and-cushings-syndrome. Accessed August 1, 2017.
  5. Sharma ST, Nieman LK, Feelders RA. Cushing’s syndrome: epidemiology and developments in disease management. Clin Epidemiol. 2015;7:281-293. doi:10.2147/CLEP.S44336
  6. National Institutes of Health: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. What causes Cushing’s syndrome?https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/cushing/conditioninfo/pages/causes.aspx. Accessed August 1, 2017.
  7. Santos A, Resmini E, Pascual JC, Crespo I, Webb SM. Psychiatric symptoms in patients with Cushing’s syndrome: prevalence, diagnosis and management. Drugs. 2017;77:829-842. doi:10.1007/s40265-017-0735-z

From http://www.endocrinologyadvisor.com/adrenal/cushings-syndrome-diagnosis-treatment/article/682302/

Filed under: adrenal, Cushing, Cushing's, pituitary | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Adrenal myelolipoma(s) as presenting manifestation of subclinical Cushing’s disease (eutopic ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome)

Posted on August 16, 2017 by MaryO
  1. Partha Pratim Chakraborty1,
  2. Shinjan Patra1,
  3. Sugata Narayan Biswas1,
  4. Rana Bhattacharjee2

+Author Affiliations


  1. 1Department of Medicine, Midnapore Medical College and Hospital, Midnapore, West Bengal, India

  2. 2Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, IPGME&R/SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
  1. Correspondence to Dr Partha Pratim Chakraborty, docparthapc@yahoo.co.in
  • Accepted 5 August 2017
  • Published 16 August 2017

Summary

Primary adrenal myelolipomas, relatively rare benign tumours of the adrenal cortex are typically unilateral, hormonally inactive and asymptomatic, hence often diagnosed as ‘adrenal incidentaloma’. Bilateral adrenal myelolipomas, in particular, may be associated with underlying endocrinopathies associated with elevated circulating adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) concentration.

Subclinical cortisol hypersecretion, irrespective of its ACTH dependency, does not manifest typical clinical phenotype of hypercortisolemia, and thus termed subclinical Cushing’s syndrome.

In this article, hormonal evaluation in a middle-aged woman with diabetes, hypertension and incidentally discovered unilateral adrenal myelolipoma revealed underlying subclinical Cushing’s disease. Abdominal CT revealed another tiny focus in the contralateral adrenal gland, probably representing incipient myelolipoma.

From (you may buy the whole article at this link) http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2017/bcr-2017-221674.short?rss=1

Filed under: adrenal, Cushing's, pituitary | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

An unusual case of Cushing’s syndrome due to bihormonal ACTH–prolactin secreting pituitary macroadenoma with rapid response to cabergoline

Posted on August 8, 2017 by MaryO
  1. Shalini Kunasegaran1,2,
  2. Michael S Croxson1,
  3. Ian Holdaway1,
  4. Rinki Murphy1

+Author Affiliations


  1. 1Department of Endocrinology, Auckland District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand

  2. 2Department of Endocrinology, Waitemata District Health Board, Takapuna, New Zealand
  1. Correspondence to Dr Shalini Kunasegaran, shal84@gmail.com
  • Accepted 13 July 2017
  • Published 7 August 2017

Summary

A 23-year-old man presenting with florid Cushing’s syndrome was found to have high plasma ACTH and very high serum prolactin. Pituitary MRI showed a large invasive macroadenoma.

Low-dose cabergoline promptly suppressed both ACTH and prolactin levels within 2 weeks, with unexpected clinical and biochemical hypocortisolism requiring hydrocortisone replacement. Secondary hypogonadism was reversed. Clinical and biochemical remission of his Cushing’s syndrome together with significant shrinkage of his macroadenoma has been maintained for 1 year on cabergoline 0.5 mg twice weekly. Reduction in pituitary

Reduction in pituitary tumour volume and brisk fall in serum prolactin in response to low-dose cabergoline is regularly observed in patients with macroprolactinomas, but the concurrent fall in the plasma ACTH level and hypocortisolism was a pleasant surprise.

We assume that he most likely has a single bihormonal adenoma that is enriched with dopamine-2 receptors.

From http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2017/bcr-2017-219921.short?rss=1

Filed under: adrenal, Cushing's, pituitary, Rare Diseases | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Drug trial begins for Cushing’s syndrome therapy

Posted on July 3, 2017 by MaryO

Participant enrollment has concluded for a phase 3 trial investigating the safety and efficacy of levoketoconazole, a cortisol synthesis inhibitor, for the treatment of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome, according to a press release from Strongbridge Biopharma, the drug’s developer.

The single-arm, open-label SONICS study will include the 90 enrolled participants and may allow a small number of other patients to enroll also, according to the release.

After titration to a therapeutic dose of levoketoconazole (Recorlev), participants will maintain treatment for 6 months, the primary efficacy endpoint. Longer-term evaluation for safety will extend to 1 year. A planned 6-month double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized withdrawal extension, dubbed LOGICS, will include approximately half of the participants from SONICS.

“The need for a safe and effective, next-generation cortisol synthesis inhibitor, such as Recorlev, in the treatment of Cushing’s syndrome is substantial. Through achieving target enrollment in the SONICS study, we are one step closer to better understanding the clinical value of Recorlev and potentially bringing a new therapeutic treatment option to this community,” said Matthew Pauls, president and chief executive officer of Strongbridge Biopharma.

The company expects to announce results of SONICS in the second quarter of 2018 and of LOGICS in the third quarter, according to the release.

For more information:

Clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01838551

From https://www.healio.com/endocrinology/adrenal/news/online/%7Bdddb8b5b-e4c8-412f-b4b8-82acde8f21a2%7D/drug-trial-begins-for-cushings-syndrome-therapy

Filed under: adrenal, Clinical trials, Cushing's, pituitary, Treatments | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »