Study links genetic mutations, Cushing syndrome

Posted on June 6, 2017 by MaryO

Researchers have determined mutations in the gene CABLES1 may lead to Cushing syndrome, a rare disorder in which the body overproduces the stress hormone cortisol.

The National Institutes of Health study findings published in Endocrine-Related Cancer found four of the 181 children and adult patient examined had mutant forms of CABLES1 that do not respond to cortisol.

The determination proved significant because normal functioning CABLES1 protein, expressed by the CABLES1 gene, slows the division and growth of pituitary cells that produce the hormone adrenocorticotropin (ACTH).

Researchers at the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) joined scientists from other institutions in the United States, France and Canada, in the evaluation.

“The mutations we identified impair the tumor suppressor function in the pituitary gland,” Constantine A. Stratakis, the study’s senior author and director of the NICHD Division of Intramural Research, said. “This discovery could lead to the development of treatment strategies that simulate the function of the CABLES1 protein and prevent recurrence of pituitary tumors in people with Cushing syndrome.”

Cushing syndrome symptoms include obesity, muscle weakness, fatigue, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, depression and anxiety, officials said, adding excess cortisol found in the disorder can result from certain steroid medications or from tumors of the pituitary or adrenal glands.

Researchers maintain that more studies are needed to fully understand how CABLES1 suppresses tumor formation in the pituitary gland.

 

From https://lifesciencedaily.com/stories/21624-study-links-genetic-mutations-cushing-syndrome/

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

Cortisol: Chronic Stress Increases the Risk of Early Puberty

Posted on May 29, 2017 by MaryO

Scientists are trying to understand how childhood adversity affects puberty, but linking the two is difficult. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) is a potentially useful biological marker of chronic stress. However, previous studies were unable to link childhood adversity to puberty in boys.

Research published in JAMA Pediatrics by Ying Sun and colleagues examined HCC and pubertal development in 1263 elementary school-aged children (age range 6.4 – 9.9 years) in China. Cortisol was extracted from hair samples and measured using a commercially available cortisol test kit.

For girls, breast development was assessed by the same pediatric endocrinologist using Breast Tanner stages, a scale of physical development. For boys, a Prader orchidometer was used to estimate testicular volume. The study found no difference in cortisol levels between boys and girls. Early breast development was significantly higher for girls with the HCC levels in the third and fourth quartile compared to those with lower HCC levels. Overall, the investigators found a 2.5-fold increase in the risk of early breast development in girls in the highest quartile of HCC compared to those in the lowest quartile.

Similarly, testicular volume in boys was significantly correlated (p< .001) with HCC, those with higher levels of HCC had larger mean testicular volumes. A 0.12-milliliter increase in testicular volume was observed with each quartile increase in HCC in boys.

This is the first study to measure the cortisol level in hair of children in relation to puberty. Scientists hope that additional studies will help us better understand the timing of puberty and how chronic stress increases the risk of early puberty.

Written By: Cindi A. Hoover, Ph.D.

From https://www.medicalnewsbulletin.com/chronic-stress-increases-risk-early-puberty/

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Corcept Therapeutics Announces Presentations on Mifepristone for the Treatment of Patients with Hypercortisolism

Posted on May 6, 2017 by MaryO

MENLO PARK, CA — (Marketwired) — 05/04/17 — Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ: CORT), a pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs that treat severe metabolic, oncologic and psychiatric disorders by modulating the effects of cortisol, today announced that presentations about hypercortisolism and mifepristone’s role in treating that disorder will be presented at the 26th Annual Congress of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) being held at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.

“There is growing awareness that even less severe degrees of hypercortisolism are harmful,” said Joseph K. Belanoff, M.D., Corcept’s Chief Executive Officer. “As a result, physicians are increasingly screening patients whose metabolic and cardiovascular symptoms have not responded to conventional therapy and finding cases of previously undetected Cushing’s syndrome.”

In addition to viewing the posters described below, AACE attendees may attend “Evolving Paradigms of Hypercortisolism,” a product theater talk by Ty Carroll, M.D. Corcept is a sponsor of the talk.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Thursday, May 4, 2017
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Poster #124
 Screening of Diabetic Patients Using
                U500
Insulin Uncovers a High Percentage of     Joseph W. Mathews, M.D., FACE
     Undiagnosed Hypercortisolism              James J. Smith, PhD
             Consistent
        with Cushing Syndrome
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Friday, May 5, 2017, 12:45 - 1:30pm
                              Product Theater B
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Evolving Paradigms of
           Hypercortisolism                      Ty Carroll, M.D.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             Friday, May 5, 2017
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Poster #131
      Medical Management of Mild
     Hypercortisolism and Primary
   Aldosteronism in a Patient with            Sandi-Jo Galati, M.D.
    ACTH-Independent Macronodular         Michele Lamerson, RN, MS, CPNP
             Hyperplasia
      Presenting with Resistant
            Hypertension
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Adriana G. Ioachimescu, M.D., PhD, FACE
             Poster #608                  Jonathan G. Ownby, M.D., FACE
   Improving Glycemic Control with       Nicole G. Greyshock, M.D., FACE
            Mifepristone                   Thomas C. Jones, M.D., FACE
in Cushing Syndrome Patients May Lead     Gary S. Wand, M.D., PhD, FACE
     to Significant Weight-loss                James J. Smith, PhD
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Poster #725
  Successful Medical Management with           Saima Farghani, M.D.
Mifepristone in a Patient with Occult     Michele Lamerson, RN, MS, CPNP
      Ectopic Cushing Syndrome
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Poster #836
  Mifepristone Therapy Significantly
              Improved
Insulin Resistance, Glycemic Control,     Jonathan G. Ownby, M.D., FACE
  and Weight Loss in a Patient with            James J. Smith, PhD
           Cushing Disease
 Previously Treated with Pasireotide
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Poster #839
  Mifepristone Reduced U500 Insulin
   Usage in a Patient with Cushing       Kimberley A. Bourne, M.D., FACE
  Disease and Normalized Concomitant           James J. Smith, PhD
 Fatty Liver Disease and Retinopathy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

About Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated
Corcept is a pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs that treat severe metabolic, oncologic and psychiatric disorders by modulating the effects of cortisol. Korlym®, a first-generation cortisol modulator, is the company’s first FDA-approved medication. The company has a portfolio of proprietary compounds that modulate the effects of cortisol but not progesterone. Corcept owns extensive intellectual property covering the use of cortisol modulators, including mifepristone, in the treatment of a wide variety of serious disorders, including Cushing’s syndrome. It also holds composition of matter patents covering its selective cortisol modulators.

From http://news.sys-con.com/node/4073068

Filed under: Cushing's, Meetings and Conferences, Treatments | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Postoperative ACTH, cortisol levels may predict Cushing’s disease remission rate

Posted on March 22, 2017 by MaryO

Early and midterm nonremission after transsphenoidal surgery in people with Cushing’s disease may be predicted by normalized early postoperative values for adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol, study data show.

Prashant Chittiboina, MD, MPH, assistant clinical investigator in the neurosurgery unit for pituitary and inheritable diseases at the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke at the NIH, and colleagues evaluated 250 patients with Cushing’s disease who received 291 transsphenoidal surgery procedures during the study period to determine remission after the procedure. Patients were treated between December 2003 and July 2016. Early remission was assessed at 10 days and medium-term remission was assessed at 11 months.

Early nonremission was predicted by normalized early postoperative values for cortisol (P = .016) and by normalized early postoperative values for adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH; P = .048). Early nonremission was further predicted with 100% sensitivity, 39% specificity, 100% negative predictive value and 18% positive predictive value for a cutoff of –12 µg/mL in normalized early postoperative values for cortisol and with 88% sensitivity, 41% specificity, 96% negative predictive value and 16% positive predictive value for a cutoff of –40 pg/mL in normalized early postoperative values for ACTH.

Medium-term nonremission was also predicted by normalized early postoperative values for cortisol (P = .023) and ACTH (P = .025).

“We evaluated the utility of early postoperative cortisol and ACTH levels for predicting nonremission after transsphenoidal adenomectomy for Cushing’s disease,” the researchers wrote. “Postoperative operative day 1 values at 6 a.m. performed best at predicting early nonremission, albeit with a lower [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve]. Normalizing early cortisol and ACTH values to post-[corticotropin-releasing hormone] values improved their prognostic value. Further prospective studies will explore the utility of normalized very early postoperative day 0 cortisol and ACTH levels in identifying patients at risk for nonremission following [transsphenoidal surgery] in patients with [Cushing’s disease].” – by Amber Cox

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.

From http://www.healio.com/endocrinology/adrenal/news/in-the-journals/%7B7de200ed-c667-4b48-ab19-256d90a7bbc5%7D/postoperative-acth-cortisol-levels-may-predict-cushings-disease-remission-rate

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

Scalp Hair Cortisol Accurate in Cushing’s Syndrome Diagnosis

Posted on March 21, 2017 by MaryO

Scalp hair cortisol measurement is an accurate first-line diagnostic test for Cushing’s syndrome in adults and offers several advantages over other first-line diagnostic procedures, according to findings published in the European Journal of Endocrinology.

“[Hair cortisol content] has practical advantages over currently used diagnostic tests, since sample collection can easily be performed in an outpatient setting and is not dependent on patient adherence to sampling instructions,” Elisabeth F. C. van Rossum, MD, PhD, professor at Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and colleagues wrote. “Furthermore, [hair cortisol content] measurement offers retrospective information about cortisol levels over months of time in a single measurement, thereby potentially circumventing the limitations posed by the variability in cortisol secretion in endogenous [Cushing’s syndrome].”

Van Rossum and colleagues analyzed data from 43 patients with confirmed endogenous Cushing’s syndrome and 35 patients with suspected Cushing’s syndrome in whom diagnosis was excluded after testing (patient controls), all evaluated between 2009 and 2016 at an endocrinology outpatient clinic at Erasmus MC. Adults from a previously published validation study served as healthy controls (n = 174). Researchers measured scalp hair samples, 24-hour urinary free cortisol, serum cortisol and salivary cortisol, and used Pearson’s correlation to determine associations between hair cortisol content and first-line screening tests for Cushing’s syndrome.

Hair cortisol content was highest in patients with Cushing’s syndrome (geometric mean, 106.9 pg/mg; 95% CI, 77.1-147.9) and higher compared with both healthy controls (mean, 8.4 pg/mg; 95% CI, 7-10) and patient controls (mean, 12.7 pg/mg; 95% CI, 8.6-18.6). Using healthy controls as the reference population, researchers found that the optimal cutoff for diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome via hair cortisol content was 31.1 pg/mg; sensitivity and specificity were 93% and 90%, respectively (area under the curve = 0.958). Results were similar when using patient controls as the reference population, according to the researchers.

Hair cortisol content was correlated with urinary free cortisol (P < .001), serum cortisol (P < .001) and late-night salivary cortisol (P < .001). In addition, in two patients with ectopic Cushing’s syndrome, researchers observed a gradual rise in hair cortisol content in the 3 to 6 months before disease diagnosis.

“Together with a straightforward sample collection procedure, this method may prove to be a convenient noninvasive screening test for [Cushing’s syndrome],” the researchers wrote. “Additionally, our results indicate that hair cortisol measurements provide clinicians a tool to retrospectively assess cortisol secretion in patients with [Cushing’s syndrome], months to years back in time. This also offers the opportunity to estimate the onset of hypercortisolism and thus the duration of the disease before diagnosis.” – by Regina Schaffer

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.

From http://www.healio.com/endocrinology/adrenal/news/in-the-journals/%7B72da0183-e1a8-48cb-a1fd-332c7999beb5%7D/scalp-hair-cortisol-accurate-in-cushings-syndrome-diagnosis

Filed under: Cushing's, Diagnostic Testing | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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