Impact of duration of critical illness on the adrenal glands of human intensive care patients

Autor: Hilke Vervenne, Emilie De Samblanx, Eva Boonen, Lisa Van Dijck, Zoë Pironet, Lies Langouche, Thomas Janssens, Inge Derese, Sarah Vander Perre, Philippe Meersseman, Greet Van den Berghe
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Adult
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
endocrine system
Critical Care
Endocrinology
Diabetes and Metabolism

Critical Illness
Clinical Biochemistry
H&E stain
Context (language use)
Biochemistry
law.invention
Young Adult
Endocrinology
law
Intensive care
Internal medicine
Adrenal Glands
medicine
Adrenal insufficiency
Humans
Cholesterol Side-Chain Cleavage Enzyme
Aged
Aged
80 and over

Adrenal cortex
business.industry
Biochemistry (medical)
Length of Stay
Middle Aged
Scavenger Receptors
Class B

medicine.disease
Phosphoproteins
Intensive care unit
Pathophysiology
3. Good health
Intensive Care Units
medicine.anatomical_structure
Female
Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases
Cholesterol Esters
business
hormones
hormone substitutes
and hormone antagonists

Glucocorticoid
Receptor
Melanocortin
Type 2

medicine.drug
Zdroj: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Popis: Adrenal insufficiency is considered to be prevalent during critical illness, although the pathophysiology, diagnostic criteria, and optimal therapeutic strategy remain controversial. During critical illness, reduced cortisol breakdown contributes substantially to elevated plasma cortisol and low plasma ACTH concentrations.Because ACTH has a trophic impact on the adrenal cortex, we hypothesized that with a longer duration of critical illness, subnormal ACTH adrenocortical stimulation predisposes to adrenal insufficiency.Adrenal glands were harvested 24 hours or sooner after death from 13 long intensive care unit (ICU)-stay patients, 27 short ICU-stay patients, and 13 controls. Prior glucocorticoid treatment was excluded. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURE(S): Microscopic adrenocortical zonational structure was evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining. The amount of adrenal cholesterol esters was determined by Oil-Red-O staining, and mRNA expression of ACTH-regulated steroidogenic enzymes was quantified.The adrenocortical zonational structure was disturbed in patients as compared with controls (P.0001), with indistinguishable adrenocortical zones present only in long ICU-stay patients (P = .003 vs. controls). Adrenal glands from long ICU-stay patients, but not those of short ICU-stay patients, contained 21% less protein (P = .03) and 9% more fluid (P = .01) than those from controls, whereas they tended to weigh less for comparable adrenal surface area. There was 78% less Oil-Red-O staining in long ICU-stay patients than in controls and in short-stay patients (P = .03), the latter similar to controls (P = .31). The mRNA expression of melanocortin 2 receptor, scavenger-receptor class B, member 1, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, and cytochrome P450 cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme was at least 58% lower in long ICU-stay patients than in controls (all P ≤ .03) and of melanocortin 2 receptor, scavenger-receptor class B, member 1, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, and cytochrome P450 cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme at least 53% lower than in short ICU-stay patients (all P ≤ .04), whereas gene expression in short ICU-stay patients was similar to controls.Lipid depletion and reduced ACTH-regulated gene expression in prolonged critical illness suggest that sustained lack of ACTH may contribute to the risk of adrenal insufficiency in long-stay ICU patients.
Databáze: OpenAIRE