scholarly journals Salivary cortisol in the diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency: cost efficient and patient friendly

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 560-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marloes L P Langelaan ◽  
Jérôme M H Kisters ◽  
Mirjam M Oosterwerff ◽  
Arjen-Kars Boer

Saliva as a diagnostic tool is patient friendly and offers analytical advantages. Hormonal analysis of saliva is not influenced by changes in concentrations of binding globulins as the free concentration of the hormones is measured. Analysis of salivary cortisol is common practice in the diagnostic work-up of hypercortisolism. We investigated the potential role of measuring salivary cortisol when adrenal insufficiency (AI) is suspected, to reduce the numbers of ACTH stimulation tests. Over a period of 6 years, patients undergoing an ACTH stimulation test (tetracosactide, 250 µg) in our hospital were included. Plasma cortisol (Elecsys, Cobas, Roche Diagnostics) and salivary cortisol and cortisone (LC–MS/MS) were determined at t = 0, 30 and 60 min after stimulation. Based on peak plasma cortisol levels, AI was ruled out in 113 patients and was established in 16 patients. Patients without AI displayed maximal salivary cortisol concentrations of 12.6–123.4 nmol/L (95th percentile) after stimulation, as opposed to 0.5–15.2 nmol/L in AI patients. At t = 0 min, a minimal salivary cortisol concentration of 1.0 nmol/L was observed in patients without AI, whereas AI patients had a maximum concentration of 5.9 nmol/L. Using these cut-off values, 34% of the initial patient group could be diagnosed without an ACTH stimulation test (28% >5.9 nmol/L, 6% <1.0 nmol/L). A novel diagnostic algorithm, including early morning salivary cortisol analysis can reduce the numbers of ACTH stimulation tests in patients suspected of AI. This patient-friendly method can thereby reduce total health care costs.

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Lara Albert ◽  
Joaquím Profitós ◽  
Jordi Sánchez-Delgado ◽  
Ismael Capel ◽  
José Miguel González-Clemente ◽  
...  

Purpose. The prevalence of adrenal insufficiency (AI) in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis is unknown. Because these patients have lower levels of cortisol-binding carrier proteins, their total serum cortisol (TSC) correlates poorly with free serum cortisol (FC). Salivary cortisol (SaC) correlates better with FC. We aimed to establish SaC thresholds for AI for the 250 μg intravenous ACTH test and to estimate the prevalence of AI in noncritically ill cirrhotic patients. Methods. We included 39 patients with decompensated cirrhosis, 39 patients with known AI, and 45 healthy volunteers. After subjects fasted ≥8 hours, serum and saliva samples were collected for determinations of TSC and SaC at baseline 0’(T0) and at 30-minute intervals after intravenous administration of 250 μg ACTH [30’(T30), 60’(T60), and 90’(T90)]. Results. Based on the findings in healthy subjects and patients with known AI, we defined AI in cirrhotic patients as SaC-T0< 0.08 μg/dL (2.2 nmol/L), SaC-T60 < 1.43 μg/dl (39.5 nmol/L), or ΔSaC<1 μg/dl (27.6 nmol/L). We compared AI determination in cirrhotic patients with the ACTH test using these SaC thresholds versus established TSC thresholds (TSC-T0< 9 μg/dl [248 nmol/L], TSC-T60 < 18 μg/dl [497 nmol/L], or ΔTSC<9 μg/dl [248 nmol/L]). SaC correlated well with TSC. The prevalence of AI in cirrhotic patients was higher when determined by TSC (48.7%) than by SaC (30.8%); however, this difference did not reach statistical significance. AI was associated with sex, cirrhosis etiology, and Child-Pugh classification. Conclusions. Measuring SaC was more accurate than TSC in the ACTH stimulation test. Measuring TSC overestimated the prevalence of AI in noncritically ill cirrhotic patients.


2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. S266-S267
Author(s):  
J. Profitós ◽  
L. Albert ◽  
O. Giménez-Palop ◽  
M. Vergara ◽  
B. Dalmau ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Kumar ◽  
Maria Ghosh ◽  
Jubbin Jagan Jacob

Abstract Background- The commonest cause of euvolemic hyponatremia (EvHNa) is the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH). The diagnosis of SIADH requires the exclusion of secondary adrenal insufficiency (AI) and untreated hypothyroidism. Studies have suggested about 4% of unselected patients presenting to the emergency room with EvHNa have undiagnosed SAI.1 Among patients admitted to specialized endocrine units this prevalence maybe as high as 20%.2Objective- To study the prevalence of undiagnosed AI among inpatients with EvHNa admitted to general medical wards. Methods- This was a prospective, single centre observational study conducted among inpatients with EvHNa. EvHNa was defined as patients with a serum sodium (Na) &lt;135 mEq/L, with no clinical evidence of dehydration or fluid excess, and a urine spot Na &gt;30mmol/L. In addition patients with recent vomiting, renal failure, recent diuretic use, uncontrolled hyperglycemia and patients with history of use of oral or parenteral steroids in the last 6 months were excluded. Adrenal functions were assessed by a modified porcine ACTH stimulation test which has been described recently by Nair et al. A cut off cortisol value of &lt;18mg/dl after 60 minutes of ACTH injection was used to diagnose AI.3Results- One hundred and forty one (141) patients were included after informed consent and all underwent a modified ACTH stimulation test. They had a mean age of 58 years and 52.3% (n=74) were males. Modified ACTH stimulation testing suggested 20/141 (14.2%) had undiagnosed AI. The mean age among those with AI was 55.2 years. In only 25% (5/20) AI was suspected based on clinical presentation by the treating physician. Despite excluding patients with documented steroid use, the commonest cause of AI (9/20) was secondary AI due to exogenous steroid use including high potency inhaled steroids (5/9) and the use of undocumented steroids or steroid containing medicaments by alternative practitioners (4/9). Hypopituitarism was diagnosed as the cause of AI in 5 patients, which included unsuspected Sheehan’s syndrome in post menopausal women (3/5), non functioning pituitary adenoma (1/5) and lymphocytic hypophysitis (1/5). Despite primary AI not commonly presenting as EvHNa, 3/20 patients had primary AI and in the remaining 3 patients the aetiology of AI remained unclear. Conclusions- Undiagnosed AI is much more common in our country among inpatients presenting with EvHNa to medical units. This increase is primarily driven by inhaled and undocumented exogenous steroid use and undiagnosed Sheehan’s syndrome. An assessment of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is mandatory before making a diagnosis of SIADH. References -(1) Diederich et al. Eur J Endocrinol 2003; 148: 609-617. (2) Cuesta et al. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 2016; 85: 836-844. (3) Nair A et al. Eur J Endocrinol. 2019 Oct 1. pii: EJE-19-0558.R2.


2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 2001478
Author(s):  
Brian Lipworth ◽  
Rory Chan ◽  
Chris RuiWen Kuo

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (1.2) ◽  
pp. 95-101
Author(s):  
Worapaka Manosroi ◽  
Pichitchai Atthakomol ◽  
Supawan Buranapin ◽  
Nipawan Waisayanand ◽  
Mattabhorn Phimphilai ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 2002149
Author(s):  
Alexandra M. Nanzer ◽  
Grainne D'Ancona ◽  
Philip A. Kelly ◽  
David J. Jackson

2016 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 43-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.D. Scheidegger ◽  
V. Gerber ◽  
A. Ramseyer ◽  
G. Schüpbach-Regula ◽  
R.M. Bruckmaier ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Didem Turgut ◽  
Serhan Vahit Pişkinpaşa ◽  
Havva Keskin ◽  
Kemal Agbaht ◽  
Ezgi Coşkun Yenigün

Objective: Systemic amyloidosis may affect many organs, and may cause endocrinologic problems which may result in adrenal insufficiency. However, assessment of adrenocortical reserve is challenging in amyloidosis patients with renal involvement. We aimed to evaluate adrenocortical reserve with various methods of cortisol measurement to determine any occult clinical condition. Methods: Patients with renal amyloidosis and healthy subjects were evaluated in this cross-sectional study. Basal cortisol, corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG), and albumin levels were measured. Serum free cortisol (cFC) level was calculated. Cortisol response tests performed after ACTH stimulation test (250 μg, intravenously) were evaluated, and free cortisol index (FCI) was calculated. Results: Twenty renal amyloidosis patients, and 25 healthy control subjects were included in the study. Patients and control subjects had similar median serum baseline cortisol levels [258 (126-423) vs 350 (314-391) nmol/L, p=0.169)] whereas patients’ stimulated cortisol levels at the 60th minute were lower [624 (497-685) vs 743 (674-781) nmol/L, p=0.011)]. The 60th-minute total cortisol levels of 8 of the 20 (40%) amyloidosis patients were <500 nmol/L, but only three of these 8 patients had stimulated FCI <12 nmol/mg suggesting an adrenal insufficiency (15%). Conclusion: ACTH stimulation test and cortisol measurements should be considered in renal amyloidosis patients with severe proteinuria to avoid false positive results if only ACTH stimulation test is used. It will be appropriate to evaluate this group of patients together with estimated measurements as FCI.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Albert ◽  
Olga Gimenez-Palop ◽  
Ismael Capel ◽  
Gonzalez-Clemente Jose Miguel ◽  
David Subias ◽  
...  

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