Concurrent Mutations of Germline GPR101 and Somatic USP8 in a Pediatric Giant Pituitary ACTH Adenoma

Posted on June 27, 2022 by MaryO

Abstract

Background

Cushing’s disease (CD) is rare in pediatric patients. It is characterized by elevated plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from pituitary adenomas, with damage to multiple systems and development. In recent years, genetic studies have shed light on the etiology and several mutations have been identified in patients with CD.

Case presentation

A girl presented at the age of 10 years and 9 months with facial plethora, hirsutism and acne. Her vision and eye movements were impaired. A quick weight gain and slow growth were also observed. Physical examination revealed central obesity, moon face, buffalo hump, supra-clavicular fat pads and bruising. Her plasma ACTH level ranged between 118 and 151 pg/ml, and sella enhanced MRI showed a giant pituitary tumor of 51.8 × 29.3 × 14.0 mm. Transsphenoidal pituitary debulk adenomectomy was performed and immunohistochemical staining confirmed an ACTH-secreting adenoma. Genetic analysis identified a novel germline GPR101 (p.G169R) and a somatic USP8 (p. S719del) mutation. They were hypothesized to impact tumor growth and function, respectively.

Conclusions

We reported a rare case of pediatric giant pituitary ACTH adenoma and pointed out that unusual concurrent mutations might contribute to its early onset and large volume.

Peer Review reports

Background

Cushing’s disease (CD) is caused by the overproduction of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ATCH) by pituitary adenomas (PAs). It is rare in children and accounts for approximately 75% of pediatric Cushing’s syndrome from 7 to 17 years of age [1]. Weight gain and facial changes are more common in children than in adults [2]. Growth retardation is also a characteristic of children with hypercortisolemia [3]. Genetic alterations such as somatic USP8, RASD1, TP53 mutations, and germline AIP, MEN1, and CABLES1 mutations have been identified in CD patients [4]. Here we report a case of pediatric invasive pituitary ACTH macroadenoma associated with a novel germline GPR101 (p. G169R) and a somatic USP8 (p. S719del) mutation.

Case presentation

The girl was born at full term with a length of 48 cm and a weight of 2900 g. Her neuromotor and cognitive development was comparable to those of children of the same age. At the age of 9 years and 4 months she developed plethora, hirsutism, facial acne, rapid weight gain, and increased abdominal circumference. Her skin darkened, and purple striae appeared on thighs and in the armpits. She became dull and less talkative, as indicated by her parents. At 10 years and 3 months, the patient complained of pain around the left orbit with an intensity of 4–5 points on a numerical rating scale (NRS). Five months later bilateral blepharoptosis appeared, with significantly impaired vision of the left eye. Soon both eyes failed to rotate in all directions.

On admission the patient was 10 years and 9 months, with a height of 144 cm (90–97th percentile) and a weight of 48 kg (25–50th percentile). Her weight gain was 20 kg, while the height increased by only 2–3 cm in 18 months. Her blood pressure was 115/76mmHg, and her heart rate was 80 bpm. Apart from the signs mentioned above, physical examination revealed central obesity (BMI 23.1 kg/m2), moon face, buffalo hump, supra-clavicular fat pads and bruising at the left fossa cubitalis. Her pupils were 7 mm in diameter and barely reacted to light. There was a fan-shaped visual field defect in the left eye. Her breasts were Tanner stage III and pubic hair was Tanner stage II, although menarche had not yet occurred. The parents and her younger brother at 6 years of age did not have symptoms related to Cushing syndrome, acromegaly or gigantism. There was no family history of pituitary tumor or other endocrine tumors.

She had increased midnight serum cortisol (24.35 µg/dL, normal range < 1.8 µg/mL) and 24-hour urine free cortisol (24hUFC) (308.0 µg, normal range 12.3–103.5). The plasma ACTH level ranged from 118 to 151 pg/mL (< 46pg/mL). The 24hUFC was not suppressed (79.2 µg) after 48 h low-dose dexamethasone suppression test (LDDST), but suppressed to 32.8 µg (suppression rate 89.4%) after 48 h high-dose dexamethasone. Sella enhanced MRI showed a giant pituitary tumor measured 51.8 × 29.3 × 14.0 mm with heterogeneous density (Fig. 1). The mass compressed the optic chiasma and surrounded the bilateral cavernous sinus (Knosp 4). Therefore, an invasive giant pituitary ACTH adenoma was clinically diagnosed. The morning growth hormone (GH) was 1.0ng/ml (< 2 ng/ml) and insulin-like growth factor 1 416 ng/ml (88–452 ng/ml). The prolactin (PRL), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were all in normal ranges, as well as serum sodium, potassium, blood glucose and urine osmolality. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed a fatty liver. Tests concerning type 1 multiple endocrine neoplasia included serum calcium, phosphate, parathyroid hormone, gastrin and glucagon, which were all unremarkable (Table 1).

Fig. 1

figure 1

Contrast-enhanced coronal (A) and sagittal (B) T1-weighted MRI on admission. The sellar mass measured 51.8 × 29.3 × 14.0 cm (TD × VD × APD) with a heterogeneous density in the enhanced scan. The diaphragma sellea was dramatically elevated, with optic chiasm compressed. The sellar floor was sunken and bilateral cavernous sinus was surrounded (Knosp 4)

Table 1 Laboratory data on admission

Transsphenoidal pituitary debulk adenomectomy was performed immediately due to multiple cranial nerve involvement and the negative results of Sandostatin loading test. A decompression resection was done. The plasma ACTH level declined to 77 pg/ml and serum cortisol 30.2 µg/dl three days after the operation. Vision, pupil dilation, eye movements and blepharoptosis also partially improved. Histopathology and immunohistochemical staining confirmed a densely–granulated corticotroph adenoma (Fig. 2, NanoZoomer S360 digital slide scanner and NDP.view 2.9.25 software, Hamamatsu, Japan). Neither necrosis nor mitotic activity was observed. The immunostaining for somatostatin receptor SSTR2A was positive with a cytoplasmic pattern, while GH, PRL, TSH, FSH, LH and PIT were all negative. The Ki 67 index was found to be 10%. One month after the operation the ACTH level increased to 132 pg/mL again, and the parents agreed to refer their child for radiotherapy to control the residual tumor.

Fig. 2

figure 2

Histopathology and immunohistochemistry staining results of the pituitary tumor. By light microscopy, the tumor cells were mostly basophilic and arranged in papillary architecture. Neither necrosis nor mitotic activity was observed (A hematoxylin-eosin, ×200). Immunohistochemistry staining was positive for ACTH (B immunoperoxidase, ×200) and transcription factor T-PIT (C immunoperoxidase, ×200). Cytoplasmic staining of SSTR2A was observed in around 1/3 tumor cells besides the strong staining of endothelial cells (D immunoperoxidase, ×200). The Ki-67 index was 10% (E immunoperoxidase, ×200). Cytokeratin CAM5.2 was diffusely positive in the cytoplasm (F immunoperoxidase, ×200). The positive control for ACTH and T-PIT was the human anterior pituitary gland, and for SSRT2, Ki-67 and CAM5.2 were cerebral cortex, tonsil and colonic mucosa, respectively

The early onset and invasive behavior of this tumor led to the consideration of whether there was a genetic defect. Genetic studies were recommended for the families and they all agreed and signed the written informed consent forms. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was performed on the patient’s blood sample using an Illumina HiSeq sequencer to an average read depth of at least 90 times per individual. Raw sequence files were mapped to the GRCH37 human reference genome and analyzed using the Sentieon software. The results revealed a germline heterozygous GPR101 gene mutation c.505G > C (p.Gly169Arg), which was subsequently confirmed to be of maternal origin by Sanger sequencing. Meanwhile WES of the tumor tissue identified an additional somatic heterozygous c.2155_2157delTCC (p.S719del) mutation of the USP8 gene .

Discussion and conclusions

In this report, we described an extremely giant and invasive pituitary ACTH adenoma in a 10-year-old girl. According to Trouillas et al., invasive and proliferative pituitary tumors have a poor prognosis [5]. CD is rare among children, and the fast-growing and invasive nature of the tumor in this case led to the investigation of genetic causes. The somatic USP8 gene mutation has been recently reported to be associated with the pathogenesis of CD [6, 7]. This gene encodes ubiquitin-specific protease 8 (USP8). S718, S719 and P720 are hotspots in different studies [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. They are located at the 14-3-3 binding motif, and the mutations disrupt the binding between USP8 and 14-3-3 protein, which leads to increased deubiquitination and EGFR signaling. High levels of EGFR consequently trigger proopiomelanocortin (POMC) transcription and ACTH secretion [6, 7]. The p.S719del mutation has been previously reported and its pathogenicity has been confirmed [7]. Thus, we speculate the p.S719del mutation plays a role in this patient with CD.

It is noteworthy that in our case, the pituitary corticotrophin adenoma was extremely giant and bilaterally invasive. USP8 mutations have been found in 31% of pediatric CD patients [10]. It is well known that microadenomas are most common in adult and pediatric CD patients. Previously, the Chinese and Japanese cohorts observed smaller sizes of USP8-mutated PAs than wild-type PAs [7, 9]. The Chinese cohort also reported a lower rate of invasive adenomas in USP8-mutated PAs [7]. This may be explained by the finding that UPS8 mutations did not significantly promote cell proliferation more than the wild-type ones [6]. Other cohorts suggested no difference in tumor size or invasiveness between USP8-mutated and wild-type PAs [8, 10, 12,13,14], which may be partially explained by the differences in sample sizes and ethnic backgrounds. Owing to the lack of evidence of USP8 mutations significantly contributing to tumor growth and invasiveness, additional pathogenesis should be investigated in this case.

The p.Gly169Arg mutation of the GPR101 gene has not been reported in patients with pituitary tumors. In silico predictions were performed using Polyphen-2, Mutation Taster and PROVEAN, and all of the programs reported it to be pathogenic. The GPR101 gene encodes an orphan G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and microduplication encompassing the gene has been proven to be the cause of X-linked acrogigantism (XLAG) [15]. XLAG is characterized by the early onset of pituitary GH-secreting macroadenomas. Point mutations of GPR101 have been found in patients with PAs that are mostly GH-secreting [15,16,17]. Although their prevalence is very low, an in vitro study supported the pathogenic role of p.E308D, the most common mutation of GPR101. This led to increased cell proliferation and GH production in rat pituitary GH3 cells [15]. Rare cases of PRL, ACTH or TSH-secreting PAs with GPR101 variants were also documented [16, 18]. To date, there have been five cases of ACTH-secreting PAs with four different germline GPR101 mutations: two cases of p.E308D, p.I122T, p.T293I and p.G31S, although in silico predictions and in vitro evaluations using AtT-20 cells have respectively determined the latter two mutations to be non-pathogenic [16, 18]. These patients were mainly children and young adults. Unlike pituitary GH-secreting tumors, the role of GPR101 mutations in the pathophysiology of CD is still questionable. Trivellin et al. demonstrated no statistically significant difference in GPR101 expression between corticotropinomas and normal human pituitaries. No significant correlation between GPR101 and POMC expression levels was found neither [18].

Given the evidences above, we hypothesize that the somatic USP8 mutation is responsible for the overexpression of ACTH in this CD girl while the germline GPR101 mutation contributes to the early onset and fast-growing nature of the tumor. Similarly, a 27-year-old woman with Nelson’s syndrome originally considered to be associated with a germline AIP variant (p.Arg304Gln) was recently reported to have a somatic USP8 mutation. The patient progressed rapidly and underwent multiple transsphenoidal surgeries [19]. Since germline AIP mutations are more commonly seen in GH-secreting PAs [20], the authors proposed that the USP8 mutation might have shifted the tumor towards ACTH-secreting [19]. Further investigations into the pathogenicity of GPR101 p.Gly169Arg and AIP p.Arg304Gln mutations are required to support the hypothesis.

In summary, we report a novel germline GPR101 and somatic USP8 mutation in a girl with an extremely giant pituitary ACTH adenoma. The concurrent mutations may lead to the growth and function of the tumor, respectively. Further investigations should be carried out to verify the role of the concurrent mutations in the pathogenesis of pediatric CD.

Availability of data and materials

The WES data of the blood sample of the patient is available in the NGDC repository (https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/gsa-human/) and the accession number is HRA002396. Any additional information is available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

CD:
Cushing’s disease
ACTH:
adrenocorticotropic hormone
PA:
pituitary adenoma
NRS:
numerical rating scale
24hUFC:
24-hour urine free cortisol
LDDST:
low-dose dexamethasone suppression test
USP8:
ubiquitin-specific protease 8
POMC:
proopiomelanocortin
GPCR:
G protein-coupled receptor
XLAG:
X-linked acrogigantism

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Acknowledgements

We thanked Dr. Xiaohua Shi and Dr. Yu Xiao from the Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital for their expertise in pituitary pathology and critical help in accomplishment of our manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported by “The National Key Research and Development Program of China” (No. 2016YFC0901501), “CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Science” (CAMS-2017-I2M–1–011). They mainly covered the fees for genetic analysis and publications.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China

    Xu-dong Bao

  2. Department of Endocrinology, Key Laboratory of Endocrinology of National Health Commission, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China

    Lin Lu, Hui-juan Zhu, Xiao Zhai, Yong Fu, Feng-ying Gong & Zhao-lin Lu

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China

    Yong Yao, Ming Feng & Ren-zhi Wang

Contributions

XB and LL contributed to the study design and manuscript writing. HZ and FG performed genetic analysis. XZ and YF collected the clinical data. YY, MF and RW provided the tumor tissue and histopathology data. ZL revised the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lin Lu.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The parents of the patient provided written informed consent for research participation.

Consent for publication

The parents of the patient provided written informed consent for the publication of indirectly identifiable data in this research.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (CRNX) Reports Positive Top-line Results Including Strong Adrenal Suppression from CRN04894 Phase 1 Study

Posted on May 26, 2022 by MaryO

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRNX) today announced positive results from the multiple-ascending dose (MAD) portion of a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical study of CRN04894, the company’s first-in-class, investigational, oral, nonpeptide adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) antagonist that is being developed for the treatment of Cushing’s disease, congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and other conditions of excess ACTH. Following administration of CRN04894, results showed serum cortisol below normal levels and a marked reduction in 24-hour urine free cortisol excretion in the presence of sustained, disease-like ACTH concentrations.

“The design of our Phase 1 healthy volunteer study allowed us to demonstrate CRN04894’s potent pharmacologic activity in the presence of ACTH levels that were in similar range to those seen in CAH and Cushing’s disease patients,” said Alan Krasner, M.D., Crinetics’ chief medical officer. “The observation of dose-dependent reductions in serum cortisol levels to below the normal range even in the presence of high ACTH indicates that CRN04894 was effective in blocking the key receptor responsible for regulating cortisol secretion. We believe this is an important finding that may be predictive of CRN04894’s efficacy in patients.”

ACTH is the key regulator of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis controlling adrenal activation. It is regulated by cortisol via a negative feedback loop that acts to inhibit ACTH secretion. This feedback loop is dysregulated in diseases of excess ACTH. In Cushing’s disease, a benign pituitary tumor drives excess ACTH secretion even in the presence of excess cortisol. While in CAH, an enzyme deficiency results in excess androgen synthesis without normal cortisol synthesis, allowing unchecked ACTH production and requiring lifelong glucocorticoid use. In both diseases, excess ACTH drives over-stimulation of the adrenal gland and leads to a host of symptoms including infertility, adrenal rest tumors, and metabolic complications in CAH and, in Cushing’s disease, symptoms include hypertension, central obesity, neuropsychiatric disorders and metabolic complications. To our knowledge, no other ACTH antagonists are currently in clinical development for diseases of ACTH excess such as Cushing’s disease or CAH.

The 49 healthy adults evaluated in the multiple ascending dose portion of the Phase 1 study were administered 40, 60 or 80 mg doses of CRN04894, or placebo, daily for 10 days. After 10 days of dosing was complete, evaluable participants were administered an ACTH challenge to stimulate adrenal activation to disease relevant levels. Safety and pharmacokinetic data were consistent with expectations from the single-ascending dose cohorts in the Phase 1 study. There were no discontinuations due to treatment-related adverse events and no serious adverse events reported. Glucocorticoid deficiency was the most common treatment-related adverse event in the MAD cohorts. This was an expected extension of pharmacology given the mechanism of action of CRN04894. CRN04894 showed consistent oral bioavailability in the MAD cohorts with a half-life of approximately 24 hours, which is anticipated to support once-daily dosing.

Participants in the MAD cohorts who were administered once nightly CRN04894 experienced a dose-dependent suppression of adrenal function as measured by suppression of serum cortisol production of 17%, 29% and 37% on average from baseline over 24 hours for the 40, 60 or 80 mg dosing groups respectively, (despite requirement for glucocorticoid supplementation in some of these subjects to prevent clinical adrenal insufficiency), compared to an average 2% increase in serum cortisol for individuals receiving placebo. The strong, dose-dependent suppression of serum and urine free cortisol was achieved despite ACTH levels in subjects in the 60 and 80 mg cohorts similar to those typically seen in patients with CAH and Cushing’s disease. Even when an additional exogenous ACTH challenge was administered on top of the already increased ACTH levels, cortisol levels remained below the normal range in subjects receiving CRN04894, indicating clinically significant suppression of adrenal activity.

“Due to its central position in HPA axis, ACTH is the obvious target for inhibiting excessive stimulation of the adrenal in diseases of ACTH excess. Even though the field of endocrinology has known about its clinical significance for more than 100 years, we are not aware of any other ACTH antagonist that has entered clinical development. This is an important milestone for endocrinology and for our company.” said Scott Struthers, Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer of Crinetics. “We are very excited to initiate patient studies in Cushing’s disease and CAH with CRN04894, which will be our third home-grown NCE to demonstrate pharmacologic proof-of-concept and enter patient trials.”

Crinetics plans to present additional details of safety, efficacy, and biomarker results from the CRN04894 Phase 1 study at an endocrinology-focused medical meeting in 2022.

Data Review Conference Call Crinetics will hold a conference call and live audio webcast today, May 25, 2022, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss results from the MAD cohorts of the Phase 1 study of CRN04894. To participate, please dial 1-877-407-0789 (domestic) or 1-201-689-8562 (international) and refer to conference ID 13730000. To access the webcast, click here. Following the live event, a replay will be available on the Events page of the Company’s website.

About the CRN04894 Phase 1 Study Crinetics has completed enrollment of the 88 healthy volunteers in this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1 study. Participants were divided into multiple cohorts in the single ascending dose (n=39) and multiple ascending dose (n=49) portions of the study. In both the SAD and MAD portions of the study, safety and pharmacokinetics were assessed. In addition, pharmacodynamic responses were evaluated before and after challenges with injected synthetic ACTH to assess pharmacologic effects resulting from exposure to CRN04894.

From https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Crinetics+Pharmaceuticals+(CRNX)+Reports+Positive+Top-line+Results+Including+Strong+Adrenal+Suppression+from+CRN04894+Phase+1+Study/20126484.html

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The Genomic Landscape of Corticotroph Tumors: From Silent Adenomas to ACTH-Secreting Carcinomas

Posted on May 21, 2022 by MaryO

Abstract

Corticotroph cells give rise to aggressive and rare pituitary neoplasms comprising ACTH-producing adenomas resulting in Cushing disease (CD), clinically silent ACTH adenomas (SCA), Crooke cell adenomas (CCA) and ACTH-producing carcinomas (CA). The molecular pathogenesis of these tumors is still poorly understood. To better understand the genomic landscape of all the lesions of the corticotroph lineage, we sequenced the whole exome of three SCA, one CCA, four ACTH-secreting PA causing CD, one corticotrophinoma occurring in a CD patient who developed Nelson syndrome after adrenalectomy and one patient with an ACTH-producing CA. The ACTH-producing CA was the lesion with the highest number of single nucleotide variants (SNV) in genes such as USP8, TP53, AURKA, EGFR, HSD3B1 and CDKN1A. The USP8 variant was found only in the ACTH-CA and in the corticotrophinoma occurring in a patient with Nelson syndrome. In CCA, SNV in TP53, EGFR, HSD3B1 and CDKN1A SNV were present. HSD3B1 and CDKN1A SNVs were present in all three SCA, whereas in two of these tumors SNV in TP53, AURKA and EGFR were found. None of the analyzed tumors showed SNV in USP48, BRAF, BRG1 or CABLES1. The amplification of 17q12 was found in all tumors, except for the ACTH-producing carcinoma. The four clinically functioning ACTH adenomas and the ACTH-CA shared the amplification of 10q11.22 and showed more copy-number variation (CNV) gains and single-nucleotide variations than the nonfunctioning tumors.

1. Introduction

The pathological spectrum of the corticotroph includes ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone)-secreting pituitary adenomas (PA), causing Cushing disease (CD), silent corticotroph adenomas (SCA), Crooke cell adenomas (CCA) and the rare ACTH-secreting carcinoma (ACTH-CA). Pituitary carcinomas account for 0.1 to 0.2% of all pituitary tumors and are defined by the presence of craniospinal or distant metastasis [1,2,3]. Most pituitary carcinomas are of corticotroph or lactotrope differentiation [3]. Although a few cases present initially as CA, the majority develop over the course of several months or years from apparently benign lesions [3,4]. CCA are characterized by the presence of hyaline material in more than 50% of the cells of the lesion, and most of them arise from silent corticotroph adenomas (SCA) or CD-provoking ACTH-secreting adenomas [5]. SCA are pituitary tumors with positive immunostaining for ACTH but are not associated with clinical or biochemical evidence of cortisol excess; they are frequently invasive lesions and represent up to 19% of clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) [6]. ACTH-secreting PA represents up to 6% of all pituitary tumors and causes eloquent Cushing disease (CD), which is characterized by symptoms and signs of cortisol hypersecretion, including a two- to fivefold increase in mortality [7,8]. The 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of PA considers not only the hormones these tumors synthesize but also the transcription factors that determine their cell lineage [9]. TBX19 is the transcription factor responsible for the terminal differentiation of corticotrophs [9]. All tumor lesions of corticotroph differentiation are positive for both ACTH and TBX19.
ACTH-secreting PA causing CD are among the best genetically characterized pituitary tumors, with USP8 somatic variants occurring in up to 25–35% of sporadic cases [9]. Yet, information regarding the molecular pathogenesis of the lesions conforming to the whole pathological spectrum of the corticotroph is scarce. The aim of the present study is to characterize the genomic landscape of pituitary tumors of corticotroph lineage. For this purpose, we performed whole exome sequencing to uncover the mutational burden (single-nucleotide variants, SNV) and copy-number variations (CNVs) of these lesions.

2. Results

2.1. Clinical and Demographic Characteristics of the Patients

A total of 10 tumor samples from 10 patients were evaluated: 4 ACTH-secreting adenomas causing clinically evident CD, three non-functioning adenomas that proved to be SCA upon immunohistochemistry (IHC), one ACTH-secreting CA with a prepontine metastasis, one rapidly growing ACTH-secreting adenoma after bilateral adrenalectomy (Nelson syndrome) in a patient with CD and one non-functioning, ACTH-producing CCA (Table 1). All except one patient were female; the mean age was 38.8 ± 16.5 years (range 17–61) (Table 1). They all harbored macroadenomas with a mean maximum diameter of 31.9 ± 13 mm (range 18–51). Cavernous sinus invasion was evident on MRI in all but one of the patients (Table 1). Homonymous hemianopia was present in seven patients, whereas right optic nerve atrophy and amaurosis were evident in patient with the ACTH-CA, and in patient with CD and pituitary apoplexy (Table 1). Detailed clinical data are included in Supplementary Table S1. Death was documented in only the patient with pituitary apoplexy, and one patient was lost during follow-up, as of October 2018.
Table 1. Clinical features of the tumors analyzed and SNV present in each tumor.
Table

2.2. General Genomic Characteristics of Neoplasms of Corticotrophic Lineage

Overall, approximately 18,000 variants were found, including missense, nonsense and splice-site variants as well as frameshift insertions and deletions. Of these alterations, the majority corresponded to single-nucleotide variants, followed by insertions and deletions. The three most common base changes were transitions C > T, T > C and C > G; most of the genetic changes were base transitions rather than transversions (Figure 1). There were several genes across the whole genome affected in more than one way, meaning that the same gene presented missense and nonsense variants, insertions, deletions and splice-site variants (Figure 2). Many of these variants are of unknown pathogenicity and require further investigation. Gains in genetic material were found in 44 cytogenetic regions, whereas 72 cytogenetic regions showed loss of genetic material in all corticotroph tumors.
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Figure 1. Panel (A) shows the gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the patient with ACTH-CA, highlighting in red the metastatic lesion in the prepontine area. Panel (B) shows the hematoxylin and eosin staining displaying the hyaline structures in the perinuclear areas denoting a Crooke cell adenoma. Panel (C,D) depict a representative corticotroph tumor with positive ACTH and TBX19 immunohistochemistry, respectively. Panel (E) shows four graphics: variant classification, variant type, SNV class and transition (ti) or transversion (tv) describing the general results of exome sequencing of the corticotroph tumors.
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Figure 2. Representative rainfall plots showing the SNV alterations throughout the whole genome of corticotroph tumors (A) CCA, (B) SCA, (C) CD and (D) ACTH-CA, displaying all base changes, including transversions and transitions. No kataegis events were found. Alterations across the genome were seen in all corticotroph tumors.

2.3. ACTH-Secreting Carcinoma (Tumor 1)

SNV missense variants were found in the genes encoding TP53 (c.215G > C [rs1042522], p.Pro72Arg); AURKA (c.91T > A [rs2273535], p.Phe31Ile); EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor, c.1562G > A [rs2227983], p.Arg521Lys); HSD3B1 (3-ß-hydroxisteroid dehydrogenase, c.1100C > A [rs1047303], p.Thr367Asn); CDKN1A (cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A or p21, c.93C > A [rs1801270], p.Ser31Arg); and USP8 (c.2159C > G [rs672601311], p.Pro720Arg). Interestingly, the previously reported USP48, BRAF, BRG1 and CABLES1 variants in pituitary CA cases were not found in this patient’s tumor (Figure 3). All SNV detected in WES experiments were validated by Sanger sequencing. The variants described were selected due to their potential pathogenic participation in other tumors and the allelic-risk association with tumorigenesis. Hereafter, all the mentioned variants in other corticotroph tumors are referred to by these aforementioned variants. Even though these same genes presented other variants, currently the significance of those variants is unknown.
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Figure 3. Panel (A) shows the oncoplot from the missense variants of the selected genes and their clinical–pathological features. Panels (B–G) depict USP8, EGFR, TP53, AURKA, CDKN1A and HSD3B1 proteins, respectively, with the changes found in DNA impacting aminoacidic changes.
In general, the pituitary CA presented more CNV alterations than the benign tumors, with 27 and 32 cytogenetic regions showing gains and losses of genetic material, respectively. The cytogenetic regions showing gains were 10q11.22, 15q11.2, 16p12.3, 1p13.2 and 20p, where genes SYT15, POTEB, ARL6IP1, HIPK1 and CJD6 are coded, respectively. By contrast, 8p21.2 was the cytogenetic region showing loss of genetic material. The previously reported amplification of 1p13.2 was also detected in this tumor (Figure 4) [10].
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Figure 4. Hierarchical clustering of corticotroph tumors according to their gains and losses across the whole genome (somatic chromosomes only). High contrast was used to enhance potential CNV alterations; nevertheless, there were only 44 unique cytogenetic regions that showed gains in genetic material with statistical significance, whereas only 72 unique cytogenetic regions showed loss of genetic material with statistical significance.

2.4. Crooke Cell Adenoma (Tumor 2)

The CCA showed SNV in the genes encoding TP53, EGFR, HSD3B1 and CDKN1A. However, neither the genes encoding AURKA and USP8 nor those encoding USP48, BRAF, BRG1 and CABLES were affected in this tumor. In CCA, only two and fifteen gains and losses were observed in copy-number variation, respectively. CNVs only showed gains in cytogenetic regions 17q12 and 10q11.22, harboring genes CCL3L1 and NPY4R, respectively, whereas losses were found in cytogenetic regions 18q21.1, 15q12 and 2q11.2, harboring genes KATNAL2, TUBGCP5 and ANKRD36.

2.5. Silent Corticotroph Adenomas (Tumors 3–5)

The three SCA shared SNVs in the genes encoding HSD3B1 and CDKN1A. SCA 4 and 5 showed SNV in the genes encoding EGFR, whereas SNV in the genes encoding AURKA and TP53 were present in SCA 3 and 5. None of the SCA were found to have SNV in the genes encoding USP8, USP48, BRAF, BRG1 or CABLES1.
The SCA presented only two and eighteen gains and losses (CNV), respectively. In regard to CNV, the these clinically silent tumors presented gains of genetic material in cytogenetic regions 17q22 and 10q11.22, which harbor genes encoding CCL3L1 and NPY4R. Eighteen losses were found distributed in cytogenetic regions 18q21.1, 15q12 and 2q11.2, encompassing the genes encoding KATNAL2, TUBGCP5 and ANKRD36. This CNV pattern closely resembles the one found in the CCA, which is somewhat expected if we consider that both neoplasms are clinically non-functioning

2.6. ACTH-Secreting Adenomas (Cushing Disease) (Tumors 6–9)

SNV of the genes encoding TP53 and HSD3B1 were present in tumor samples from all four CD patients, whereas none of these patients harbored adenomas with SNV in the genes encoding USP8 or CDKN1A. An SNV in the gene encoding AURKA was identified in only one of these tumors (tumor 8). EGFR SNV were found in tumors 7 and 9. None of the CD-causing ACTH-secreting adenomas showed the previously reported SNV in the genes encoding USP48, BRAF, BRG1 and CABLES1.
CNV analysis in this group of eloquent-area corticotroph tumors revealed 25 gains and 55 losses of genetic material. The gains occurred in cytogenetic regions 17q12, 2p12, 9p24 and 10q11.22, where genes CCL3L1, CTNNA2, FOXD4 and NPY4R are coded, respectively. The losses were localized in cytogenetic regions 21p12, 15q11.2, and 8p23, harboring genes USP16, KLF13 and DEF130A, respectively. We also detected the previously reported 20p13 amplification [10].

2.7. ACTH-Secreting Adenoma Causing Nelson Syndrome (Tumor 10)

This patient’s tumor showed SNV in the genes encoding USP8, TP53, HSD3B1 and CDKN1A but no alterations were found in the genes encoding EGFR and AURKA. This tumor and the ACTH-CA were the only two neoplasms that harbored a USP8 variant. No SNV were identified in the genes encoding USP48, BRAF, BRG1 and CABLES1. Interestingly, CNV analysis revealed the same gains and losses of genetic material found in tumors from other patients with CD.

2.8. Tumor Phylogenic Analysis

We performed a phylogenetic inference analysis to unravel a hypothetical sequential step transformation from an SCA to a functioning ACTH-secreting adenoma and finally to an ACTH-CA. The theoretical evolutive development of the ACTH CA, departing from the SCA, shows two main clades, with the smallest one comprising two of the three SCA and two of the five ACTH-adenomas causing CD. Since these four tumors have the same SNV profile, we can assume that they harbor the genes that must be altered to make possible the transition from a silent to a clinically eloquent adenoma; the gene encoding ATF7IP (c.1589A > G [rs3213764], p.K529R) characterizes this clade. The second and largest clade includes the CCA, the ACTH-CA, one of the three SCA and three of the five most aggressive ACTH adenomas causing CD, including the adenoma of the patient with Nelson syndrome. This clade represents the molecular alterations required to evolve from a CD-causing ACTH-adenoma to a more aggressive tumor, or even to a CA and is characterized by the gene encoding MSH3 (c.235A > G [rs1650697], p.I79V) (Figure 5).
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Figure 5. Phylogenetic analysis of the corticotroph tumors. The theoretical evolutive development of the ACTH-CA, departing from the SCA shows two main clades. The first clade, characterized by ATF7IP gene, comprises 2 of the 3 SCA and 2 of the 5 ACTH-adenomas causing CD. The second clade is characterized by the gene encoding MSH3 and includes the CCA, the ACTH-CA, one of the 3 SCA and 3 of the 5 most aggressive ACTH adenomas causing CD, including the adenoma of the patient with Nelson syndrome. Red dots represent the Cushing Disease provoking adenomas, green dots represent the silent corticotroph tumors, brown dot represent the Crooke cell adenoma and the blue dot represent the corticotroph carcinoma.

2.9. Correlation between Gene Variants and Clinicopathological Features

The USP8 variant positively correlated with increased tumor mass (p = 0.019). The CDKN1A variant was significantly associated with silent tumors (p = 0.036). The rest of the genetic variants did not correlate with any of the clinicopathological features tested. The presence of the EGFR variant was not distinctly associated with any of the clinical parameters and was equally present in functional as well as non-functional tumors (p = 0.392). AURKA SNV did not correlate with any of the features, including recurrence (p = 0.524). Detailed statistical results are presented in Supplementary Table S2.

3. Discussion

Corticotrophs are highly specialized cells of the anterior pituitary that synthesize and secrete hormones that are essential for the maintenance of homeostasis. In this study, we sequenced the exome of 10 corticotroph tumors, including three SCA, four ACTH adenomas causing CD, an ACTH adenoma in a patient with Nelson syndrome, a CCA and an ACTH-CA in total, representing the broad pathological spectrum of this cell. Our results portray the genomic landscape of all the neoplasms that are known to affect the corticotroph.
The neoplasm with the highest number of genomic abnormalities, including SNV and CNV, was the ACTH-CA, followed by the CCA and the CD tissues. Of all the genes harboring SNVs, six were found to be present in at least two of our tumor samples: HSD3B1, TP53, CDKN1A, EGFR, AURKA and USP8.
The HSD3B1 gene encodes a rate-limiting enzyme required for all pathways of dihydrotestosterone synthesis and is abundantly expressed in adrenal tumors. Gain of function of this HSD3B1 variant, which has a global allelic prevalence of 0.69678 [11], results in resistance to proteasomal degradation with the consequent accumulation of the enzyme and has been associated with a poor prognosis in patients with prostate cancer [12]. Nine of the ten corticotroph tumors in our cohort harbored an SNV of the tumor suppressor gene TP53. The TP53 variant described in our cohort has been reported to be present in 80% of non-functioning pituitary adenomas and is apparently associated with a younger age at presentation and with cavernous sinus invasion [13]. Furthermore, this TP53 variant results in a reduced expression of CDKN1A and an increased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as well as an increased cellular proliferation rate [13]. CDKN1A (also known as p21) is a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor regulating cell cycle progression. The SNV described in our study was reported to alter DNA binding ability and expression and has a global allelic frequency of 0.086945 [14]. This cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor SNV was found to be associated with breast carcinoma [15] and lung cancer [16]. The presence of this SNV has not been previously explored in pituitary adenomas, although CDKN1A is downregulated in clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas of gonadotrophic lineage but not in hormone-secreting tumors [17]. EGFR encodes a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor, activation of which leads to mitogenic signaling [18]. This gene is upregulated in several cancers and represents a target for molecular therapies [19]. The EGFR SNV described in our corticotroph tumor series was found to be associated with the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast and lung cancer [18]. EGFR is normally expressed in corticotrophs, where it participates in the regulation of POMC (proopiomelanocortin) gene transcription and cellular proliferation [20]. The EGFR rs2227983 has a 0.264334 global allelic frequency [21]. AURKA is a cell-cycle regulatory serine/threonine kinase that promotes cell cycle progression by the establishment of the mitotic spindle and centrosome separation [22]. Alterations of these gene are related to centrosomal amplification, dysfunction of cytokinesis and aneuploidy [22]; it has a global allelic frequency of 0.18078 [23]. This same SNV has been associated with overall cancer risk, particularly breast, gastric, colorectal, liver and endometrial carcinomas, but it has never been formally studied in pituitary tumors [22]. Activating somatic variants of the gene encoding USP8 were recently found in 25–40% of ACTH-secreting adenomas causing CD [24,25]. Patients harboring these variants are usually younger, more frequently females and were found to have higher long-term recurrence rates in some but not all studies [26,27]. USP8 mediates the deubiquitination of EGFR by inhibiting its interaction with protein 14-3-3, which in turn prevents its proteosomal degradation. Signaling through the recycled deubiquitinated EGFR is increased, leading to increased POMC transcription and cellular proliferation. Most activating USP8 variants are located within its 14-3-3 binding motif [24,25]. Recently, USP8 and TP53 SNV were described in corticotroph tumors as drivers of aggressive lesions [28]. To our knowledge, USP8 variants have not been evaluated in patients with pituitary carcinomas, and none of the previously mentioned studies have included patients with Nelson syndrome. In our cohort, neither the CCA nor the SCA showed variants in USP8, in concordance with previously published studies [25,29], or in the genes USP48, BRAF, BRG1 and CABLES1 [9], and none of them were present in our cohort.
Genetic structural variations in the human genome can be present in many forms, from SNV to large chromosomal aberrance [30]. CNV are structurally variant regions, including unbalanced deletions, duplications and amplifications of DNA segments ranging from a dozen to several hundred base pairs, in which copy-number differences have been observed between two or more genomes [31,32]. CNV are involved in the development and progression of many tumors and occur frequently in PA [30,33]. Hormone-secreting pituitary tumors show more CNV than non-functioning tumors [34]. Accordingly, our non-functioning SCA and CCA had considerably fewer chromosomal gains and losses than the CD-causing adenomas and the ACTH-CA. Expectedly, the ACTH-CA had significantly more cytogenetic abnormalities than any other tumor in our series. Interestingly, the ACTH-adenomas causing CD, the SCA and the CCA shared the gain of genetic material in 17q12, highlighting their benign nature. The 17q12 amplification has been described in gastric neoplasms [35]. The only cytogenetic abnormality shared by all types of corticotroph tumors was the gain of genetic material in 10q11.22. Amplification of 10q11.22 was previously described in Li–Fraumeni cancer predisposition syndrome [36]. The ACTH-CA, the CCA and one SCA clustered together showing a related CNV pattern; this CNV profile could be reflective of the aggressive nature of these neoplasms, since both CCA and SCA can follow a clinically aggressive course [5,6].
Our results show that all lesions conforming to the pathological spectrum of the corticotroph share some of the SNV and CNV profiles. These genomic changes are consistent with the potential existence of a continuum, whereby silent tumors can transform into a clinically eloquent tumor and finally to carcinoma, or at least a more aggressive tumor. It can also be interpreted as the common SNV shared by aggressive tumors. It is known that silent corticotroph adenomas may switch into a hormone-secreting tumor [37] and are considered a marker for aggressiveness and a risk factor for malignancy since most of the carcinomas are derived from functioning hormone-secreting adenomas. Our phylogenetic inference analysis showed that the genes ATF7IP and MSH3 could participate in a tumor transition ending in aggressive entities or even carcinomas. ATF7IP is a multifunctional nuclear protein mediating heterochromatin formation and gene regulation in several contexts [38], while MSH3 is a mismatch-repair gene [39]. Events related to heterochromatin remodeling and maintenance have been related to aggressive pituitary adenomas and carcinomas [40]. Additionally, alterations in mismatch-repair genes are related to pituitary tumor aggressiveness and resistance to pharmacologic treatment [41,42]. The variants described in ATF7IP and MSH3 are related to prostate and colorectal cancer, respectively [43,44]. There is evidence suggesting that the ATF7IP variant could be deleterious because it leads to a negative regulation of transcription [45]. Thus, these events could be biologically relevant to corticotroph tumorigenesis, although more research is needed.

4. Conclusions

We have shown genomic evidence that within the tumoral spectrum of the corticotroph, functioning ACTH-secreting lesions harbor more SNV and CNV than non-functioning ACTH adenomas. The ACTH-secreting CA shows more genomic abnormalities than the other lesions, underscoring its more aggressive biological behavior. Phylogenetic inference analysis of our data reveals that silent corticotroph lesions may transform into functioning tumors, or at least potentially, into more aggressive lesions. Alterations in genes ATF7IP and MSH3, related to heterochromatin formation and mismatch repair, could be important in corticotroph tumorigenesis. The main drawback of our study is the limited sample size. We are currently increasing the number of samples to corroborate our findings and to be able to perform a more comprehensive complementary phylogenetic analysis of our data. Finally, further research is needed to uncover the roles of these variants in corticotroph tumorigenesis.

5. Materials and Methods

5.1. Patients and Tumor Tissue Samples

Ten pituitary tissues were collected: one ACTH-CA, one CCA, three SCA, and five ACTH-secreting PA causing CD, including the tumor of a patient who developed Nelson syndrome after bilateral adrenalectomy. All tumors included in the study were sporadic and were collected from patients diagnosed, treated and followed at the Endocrinology Service and the Neurosurgical department of Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Hospital General de Mexico “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga” and Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia “Manuel Velazquez”. All participating patients were recruited with signed informed consent and ethical approval from the Comisión Nacional de Ética e Investigación Científica of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, in accordance with the Helsinki declaration.
CD was diagnosed according to our standard protocol. Briefly, the presence of hypercortisolism was documented based on two screening tests, namely a 24 h urinary free-cortisol level above 130 µg and the lack of suppression of morning (7:00–8:00) cortisol after administration of 1 mg dexamethasone the night before (23:00) to less than 1.8 µg/dL, followed by a normal or elevated plasma ACTH to ascertain ACTH-dependence. Finally, an overnight, high-dose (8 mg) dexamethasone test, considered indicative of a pituitary source, and a cortisol suppression > 69%, provided that a pituitary adenoma was clearly present on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the sellar region. In none of the 10 patients included in the study was inferior petrosal venous sampling necessary to confirm the pituitary origin of the ACTH excess. Invasiveness was defined by the presence of tumor within the cavernous sinuses (CS).
DNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded tumor tissues using the QIAamp DNA FFPE tissue kit. From frozen tumors, DNA was obtained using the Proteinase K-ammonium acetate protocol.

5.2. Construction and Sequencing of Whole Exome Libraries

Exome libraries were prepared according to the Agilent SureSelect XT HS Human All exon v7 instructions. Briefly, 200 ng of DNA was enzymatically fragmented with Agilent SureSelect Enzymatic Fragmentation Kit. Fragmented DNA was end-repaired and dA-tail was added at DNA ends; then, molecular barcode adaptors were added, followed by AMPure XP bead purification. The adaptor-ligated library was amplified by PCR and purified by AMPure XP beads. DNA libraries were hybridized with targeting exon probes and purified with streptavidin-coated magnetic beads. The retrieved libraries were amplified by PCR and purified by AMPure XP beads and pooled for sequencing in NextSeq 500 using Illumina flow cell High Output 300 cycles chemistry. All quality controls of the libraries were carried out using Screen tape assays and quantified by Qubit fluorometer. Quality parameters included a DNA integrity number above 8 and a 100X sequencing depth aimed with at least 85% of coverage.

5.3. Bioinformatics Analysis

The fastq files were subjected to quality control using FastQC v0.11.9, the adapters were removed using Cutadapt v3.4, the alignment was carried out with Burrows–Wheeler Alignment Tool v0.7.17 with the -M option to ensure compatibility with Picard and GRCh38 as a reference genome. The marking of duplicates as well as the sorting was carried out with Picard v2.26.4 with the AddOrReplaceReadGroups programs with the option SORT_ORDER = coordinate and MarkDuplicates, respectively. Variant calling was carried out using Genomic Analysis Toolkit (GATK) v4.2.2.0 following the Best Practices guide (available at https://gatk.broadinstitute.org/) [46] and with the parameters used by Genomic Data Commons (GDC), available at https://docs.gdc.cancer.gov/ [47]. The GATK tools used were CollectSequencingArtifactMetrics, GetPileupSummaries, CalculateContamination and Mutect2. Mutect2 was run with the latest filtering recommendations, including a Panel of Normal and a Germline Reference from the GATK database. Filtering was performed with the CalculateContamination, LearnReadOrientationModel and FilterMutectCalls tools with the default parameters. For the calculation of CNV GISTIC v2.0.23 was used with the parameters used by GDC. Catalog of Somatic Mutation in Cancer (COSMIC) was used to uncover pathogenic variants. For the analysis of variants and CNV, the maftool v2.10.0 and ComplexHeatmap 2.10.0 packages were used. All analyses were carried out on the GNU/Linux operating system under Ubuntu v20.01.3 or using the R v4.0.2 language in Rstudio v2021.09.0+351. A second bioinformatics pipeline was also used, SureCall software (Agilent) with the default parameters used for SNV variant calling. The variants found by both algorithms were taken as reliable SNV. Data were deposited in Sequence Read Archive hosted by National Center for Biotechnology Information under accession number PRJNA806516.
Phylogenetic tree inference (PTI) was run by means of the default parameters using matrices for each sample. These matrices contain an identifier for each variant, mutant read counts, counts of reference reads and the gene associated with the variant. The only PTI parameter was Allele Frequency of Mutation and was used to improve the speed of the algorithm. Briefly, PTI uses an iterative process on the variants shared between the samples. First, it builds the base of the tree using the variants shared by all the samples; second, it eliminates these variants and establishes a split node; and third, it eliminates the variants of the sample that produced the division (split). PTI iteratively performs these three steps for all division possibilities. Each tree is given a score based on an aggregated variant count, and the tree with the highest score is chosen as the optimal tree.

5.4. Sanger Sequencing forConfirmation of Exome Findings

Exome variant findings in exome sequencing were validated by Sanger sequencing using BigDye Terminator v3.1 Cycle Sequencing kit (ThermoFischer) in a 3500 Genetic Analyzer. Primers used for USP8 [48], TP53 [49], EGFR [50], AURKA [51], CDKN1A [52,53] and HSD3B1 sequencing have been previously reported.

5.5. Hormone and Transcription Factor Immunohistochemistry

Paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed tissue blocks were stained with hematoxylin–eosin and reviewed by a pathologist. Tumors were represented with a 2-fold redundancy. Sections (3 μm) were cut and placed onto coated slides. Immunostaining was performed by means of the HiDef detection HRP polymer system (Cell Marque, CA, USA), using specific antibodies against each pituitary hormone (TSH, GH, PRL, FSH, LH and ACTH) and the lineage-specific transcription factors TBX19, POU1F1 and NR5A1, as previously described [54]. Two independent observers performed assessment of hormones and transcription factors expression at different times.

5.6. Statistical Analysis

Two-tailed Fisher exact tests and Student’s t tests were used to evaluate the relationship between the identified gene variants and clinicopathological features. A p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Statistical software consisted of SPSS v28.0.1

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijms23094861/s1.

Author Contributions

D.M.-R., K.T.-P. and M.M. conceived, designed and coordinated the project, performed experiments, analyzed, discussed data and prepared the manuscript. S.A.-E., G.S.-R., E.P.-M., S.V.-P., R.S., L.B.-A., C.G.-T., J.G.-C. and J.T.A.-S. performed DNA purification, library preparation, sequencing experiments, bioinformatics analysis and wrote the manuscript. A.-L.E.-d.-l.-M., I.R.-S., E.G.-A., L.A.P.-O., G.G., S.M.-J., L.C.-M., B.L.-F. and A.B.-L. provided biological samples and detailed patient information. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was partially supported by grants 289499 from Fondos Sectoriales Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia, Mexico, and R-2015-785-015 from Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (MM).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Protocol approved by the Comisión Nacional de Ética e Investigación Científica of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, in accordance with the Helsinki declaration (R-2019-785-052).

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

Data were deposited in Sequence Read Archive hosted by National Center for Biotechnology Information under accession number PRJNA806516.

Acknowledgments

Sergio Andonegui-Elguera is a doctoral student from Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and received fellowship 921084 from CONACYT. KTP is a recipient of Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) fellowship “Estáncias posdoctorales por Mexico 2021” program. DMR is a recipient of the National Council for Science and Technology Fellowship “Catedra CONACyT” program.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Simultaneous Pituitary and Adrenal Adenomas in a Patient with Non ACTH Dependent Cushing Syndrome

Posted on April 11, 2022 by MaryO

Highlights

•

Cushing syndrome (CS) is a rare disorder with a variety of underlying etiologies.

•

CS is expected to affect 0.2 to 5 people per million per year.

•

Adrenal-dependent CS is an uncommon variant of CS.

•

This study reports a rare occurrence of pituitary and adrenal adenoma with CS.

Abstract

Introduction

Cushing syndrome is a rare disorder with a variety of underlying etiologies, that can be exogenous or endogenous (adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-dependent or ACTH-independent). The current study aims to report a case of ACTH-independent Cushing syndrome with adrenal adenoma and nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma.

Case report

A 37–year–old female presented with amenorrhea for the last year, associated with weight gain. She had a moon face, buffalo hump, and central obesity. A 24-hour urine collection for cortisol was performed, revealing elevated cortisol. Cortisol level was non-suppressed after administering dexamethasone. MRI of the pituitary revealed a pituitary microadenoma, and the CT scan of the abdomen with adrenal protocol revealed a left adrenal adenoma.

Discussion

Early diagnosis may be postponed due to the variety of clinical presentations and the referral of patients to different subspecialists based on their dominant symptoms (gynecological, dermatological, cardiovascular, psychiatric); it is, therefore, critical to consider the entire clinical presentation for correct diagnosis.

Conclusion

Due to the diversity in the presentation of CS, an accurate clinical, physical and endocrine examination is always recommended.

Keywords

Cushing syndrome
Cushing’s disease
Adrenal adenoma
Pituitary adenoma
Urine free cortisol

1. Introduction

Cushing syndrome (CS) is a collection of clinical manifestations caused by an excess of glucocorticoids [1]. CS is a rare disorder with a variety of underlying etiologies that can be exogenous due to continuous corticosteroid therapy for any underlying inflammatory illness or endogenous due to either adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-dependent or ACTH-independent [2], [3]. Cushing syndrome is expected to affect 0.2 to 5 people per million per year. Around 10% of such cases involve children [4], [5]. ACTH-dependent glucocorticoid excess owing to pituitary adenoma accounts for the majority (60–70%) of endogenous CS, with primary adrenal causes accounting for only 20–30% and ectopic ACTH-secreting tumors accounting for the remaining 5–10% [6]. Adrenal-dependent CS is an uncommon variant of CS caused mostly by benign (90%) or malignant (8%) adrenal tumors or, less frequently, bilateral micronodular (1%) or macronodular (1%) adrenal hyperplasia [7].

The current study aims to report a case of ACTH-independent Cushing syndrome with adrenal adenoma and nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma. The report has been arranged in line with SCARE guidelines and includes a brief literature review [8].

2. Case report

2.1. Patient’s information

A 37–year–old female presented with amenorrhea for the last year, associated with weight gain. She denied having polyuria, polydipsia, headaches, visual changes, dizziness, dryness of the skin, cold intolerance, or constipation. She had no history of chronic disease and denied using steroids. She visited an internist, a general surgeon, and a gynecologist and was treated for hypothyroidism. She was put on Thyroxin 100 μg daily, and oral contraceptive pills were given for her menstrual problems. Last time, the patient was referred to an endocrinology clinic, and they reviewed the clinical and physical examinations.

2.2. Clinical examination

She had a moon face, buffalo hump, central obesity, pink striae over her abdomen, and proximal weakness of the upper limbs. After reviewing the history and clinical examination, CS was suspected.

2.3. Diagnostic assessment

Because the thyroid function test revealed low thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free T3, and freeT4, the patient was sent for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pituitary, which revealed a pituitary microadenoma (7 ∗ 6 ∗ 5) mm (Fig. 1). Since the patient was taking thyroxin and oral contraceptive pills, the investigations were postponed for another six weeks due to the contraceptive pills’ influence on the results of the hormonal assessment for CS. After six weeks of no medication, a 24-hour urinary free cortisol (UFC) was performed three times, revealing elevated cortisol levels (1238, 1100, and 1248) nmol (normal range, 100–400) nmol. A dexamethasone suppression test was done (after administering dexamethasone tab 1 mg at 11 p.m., serum cortisol was measured at 9 a.m.). The morning serum cortisol level was 620 nmol (non-suppressed), which normally should be less than 50 nmol. The ACTH level was below 1 pg/mL.

Fig. 1

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Fig. 1. Contrast enhanced T1W weighted MRI (coronal section) showing small 7 mm hypo-enhanced microadenoma (yellow arrow) in right side of pituitary gland with mild superior bulge.

Based on these findings, ACTH independent CS was suspected. The computerized tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen with adrenal protocol revealed a left adrenal adenoma (33 mm × 25 mm) without features of malignancy (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2

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Fig. 2. Computed tomography scan of the abdomen with IV contrast, coronal section, showing 33 mm × 25 mm lobulated enhanced left adrenal tumor (yellow arrow), showing absolute washout on dynamic adrenal CT protocol, consistent with adrenal adenoma.

2.4. Therapeutic intervention

The patient was referred to the urologist clinic for left adrenalectomy after preparation for surgery and perioperative hormonal management. She underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy and remained in the hospital for two days. The histopathology results supported the diagnosis of adrenal adenoma.

2.5. Follow-up

She was released home after two days on oral hydrocortisone 20 mg in the morning and 10 mg in the afternoon. After one month of follow-up, serum cortisol was 36 nmol, with the resolution of some features such as weight reduction (3 kg) and skin color (pink striae became white).

3. Discussion

Cushing’s syndrome is a serious and well-known medical condition that results from persistent exposure of the body to excessive glucocorticoids, either from endogenous or, most frequently, exogenous sources [9]. The average age of diagnosis is 41.4 years, with a female-to-male ratio of 3:1 [10]. ACTH-dependent CS accounts for almost 80% of endogenous CS, while ACTH-independent CS accounts for nearly 20% [10]. This potentially fatal condition is accompanied by several comorbidities, including hypertension, diabetes, coagulopathy, cardiovascular disease, infections, and fractures [11]. Exogenous CS, also known as iatrogenic CS, is more prevalent than endogenous CS and is caused by the injection of supraphysiologic glucocorticoid dosages [12]. ACTH-independent CS is induced by uncontrolled cortisol release from an adrenal gland lesion, most often an adenoma, adrenocortical cancer, or, in rare cases, ACTH-independent macronodular adrenal hyperplasia or primary pigmented nodular adrenal disease [13].

The majority of data suggests that early diagnosis is critical for reducing morbidity and mortality. Detection is based on clinical suspicion initially, followed by biochemical confirmation [14]. The clinical manifestation of CS varies depending on the severity and duration of glucocorticoid excess [14]. Some individuals may manifest varying symptoms and signs because of a rhythmic change in cortisol secretion, resulting in cyclical CS [15]. The classical symptoms of CS include weight gain, hirsutism, striae, plethora, hypertension, ecchymosis, lethargy, monthly irregularities, diminished libido, and proximal myopathy [16]. Neurobehavioral presentations include anxiety, sadness, mood swings, and memory loss [17]. Less commonly presented features include headaches, acne, edema, abdominal pain, backache, recurrent infection, female baldness, dorsal fat pad, frank diabetes, electrocardiographic abnormalities suggestive of cardiac hypertrophy, osteoporotic fractures, and cardiovascular disease from accelerated atherosclerosis [10]. The current case presented with amenorrhea, weight gain, moon face, buffalo hump, and skin discoloration of the abdomen.

Similar to the current case, early diagnosis may be postponed due to the variety of clinical presentations and the referral of patients to different subspecialists based on their dominant symptoms (gynecological, dermatological, cardiovascular, psychiatric); it is, therefore, critical to consider the entire clinical presentation for correct diagnosis [18]. Weight gain may be less apparent in children, but there is frequently an arrest in growth with a fall in height percentile and a delay in puberty [19].

The diagnosis and confirmation of the etiology can be difficult and time-consuming, requiring a variety of laboratory testing and imaging studies [20]. According to endocrine society guidelines, the initial assessment of CS must include one or more of the three following tests: 24-hour UFC measurement; evaluation of the diurnal variation of cortisol secretion by assessing the midnight serum or salivary cortisol level; and a low-dose dexamethasone suppression test, typically the 1 mg overnight test [21]. Although UFC has sufficient sensitivity and specificity, it does not function well in milder cases of Cushing’s syndrome [22]. In CS patients, the typical circadian rhythm of cortisol secretion is disrupted, and a high late-night cortisol serum level is the earliest and most sensitive diagnostic indicator of the condition [23]. In the current case, the UFC was elevated, and cortisol was unsuppressed after administration of dexamethasone.

All patients with CS should have a high-resolution pituitary MRI with a gadolinium-based contrast agent to prove the existence or absence of a pituitary lesion and to identify the source of ACTH between pituitary adenomas and ectopic lesions [24]. Adrenal CT scan is the imaging modality of choice for preoperatively localizing and subtyping adrenocortical lesions in ACTH-independent Cushing’s syndrome [9]. MRI of the pituitary gland of the current case showed a microadenoma and a CT scan of the adrenals showed left adrenal adenoma.

Surgical resection of the origin of the ACTH or glucocorticoid excess (pituitary adenoma, nonpituitary tumor-secreting ACTH, or adrenal tumor) is still the first-line treatment of all forms of CS because it leaves normal adjacent structures and results in prompt remission and inevitable recovery of regular adrenal function [12], [25]. Laparoscopic (retroperitoneal or transperitoneal) adrenalectomy has become the gold standard technique for adrenal adenomas since it is associated with fewer postoperative morbidity, hospitalization, and expense when compared to open adrenalectomy [17]. In refractory cases, or when a patient is not a good candidate for surgery, cortisol-lowering medication may be employed [26]. The current case underwent left adrenalectomy.

Symptoms of CS, such as central obesity, muscular wasting or weakness, acne, hirsutism, and purple striae generally improve first and may subside gradually over a few months or even a year; nevertheless, these symptoms may remain in 10–30% of patients [27]. Glucocorticoid replacement is essential after adrenal-sparing curative surgery until the pituitary-adrenal function returns, which might take up to two years, especially if adrenal adenomas have been resected [25]. Chronic glucocorticoid excess causes lots of new co-morbidities, lowering the quality of life and increasing mortality. The most common causes of mortality in CS are cardiovascular disease and infections [28]. After one month of follow-up, serum cortisol was 36 nmol, and several features, such as weight loss (3 kg) and skin color, were resolved (pink striae became white).

In conclusion, the coexistence of adrenal adenoma and pituitary adenoma with CS is a rare possibility. Due to the diversity in the presentation of CS, an accurate clinical, physical and endocrine examination is always recommended. Laparoscopic adrenalectomy is the gold standard for treating adrenal adenoma.

Consent

Written informed consent was obtained from the patient’s family for publication of this case report and accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in-Chief of this journal on request.

Provenance and peer review

Not commissioned, externally peer-reviewed.

Ethical approval

Approval is not necessary for case report (till 3 cases in single report) in our locality.

The family gave consent for the publication of the report.

Funding

None.

Guarantor

Fahmi Hussein Kakamad, Fahmi.hussein@univsul.edu.iq.

Research registration number

Not applicable.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Abdulwahid M. Salh: major contribution of the idea, literature review, final approval of the manuscript.

Rawa Bapir: Surgeon performing the operation, final approval of the manuscript.

Fahmi H. Kakamad: Writing the manuscript, literature review, final approval of the manuscript.

Soran H. Tahir, Fattah H. Fattah, Aras Gh. Mahmood, Rawezh Q. Salih, Shaho F. Ahmed: literature review, final approval of the manuscript.

Declaration of competing interest

None to be declared.

References

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Possible Good News! Effects of Tubastatin A on Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Synthesis and Proliferation of Att-20 Corticotroph Tumor Cells

Posted on March 31, 2022 by MaryO
  • Rie HagiwaraDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki 036-8562, Japan
  • Kazunori KageyamaDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki 036-8562, Japan
  • Yasumasa IwasakiSuzuka University of Medical Science, Suzuka 510-0293, Japan
  • Kanako NiiokaDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki 036-8562, Japan
  • Makoto DaimonDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki 036-8562, Japan
Abstract

Cushing’s disease is an endocrine disorder characterized by hypercortisolism, mainly caused by autonomous production of ACTH from pituitary adenomas. Autonomous ACTH secretion results in excess cortisol production from the adrenal glands, and corticotroph adenoma cells disrupt the normal cortisol feedback mechanism. Pan-histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors inhibit cell proliferation and ACTH production in AtT-20 corticotroph tumor cells. A selective HDAC6 inhibitor has been known to exert antitumor effects and reduce adverse effects related to the inhibition of other HDACs. The current study demonstrated that the potent and selective HDAC6 inhibitor tubastatin A has inhibitory effects on proopiomelanocortin (Pomc) and pituitary tumor-transforming gene 1 (Pttg1) mRNA expression, involved in cell proliferation. The phosphorylated Akt/Akt protein levels were increased after treatment with tubastatin A. Therefore, the proliferation of corticotroph cells may be regulated through the Akt-Pttg1 pathway. Dexamethasone treatment also decreased the Pomc mRNA level. Combined tubastatin A and dexamethasone treatment showed additive effects on the Pomc mRNA level. Thus, tubastatin A may have applications in the treatment of Cushing’s disease.

Access the PDF at https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/endocrj/advpub/0/advpub_EJ21-0778/_pdf/-char/en

 

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

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