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Obesity can be triggered by detrimental changes to the normal daily rhythms of hormone production, leading to an increased production of fat cells, research in mice shows. These findings help to explain why conditions that disturb hormone levels, such as Cushing’s disease…

Ketoconazole is a safe treatment for Cushing’s syndrome patients, but close monitoring of liver function markers should be done for up to six months, a French study shows. The study, “Hepatic safety of ketoconazole in Cushing’s syndrome: results of a compassionate use program in France,” appeared in the…

High lipid levels in the blood may lead to elevated blood pressure in patients with Cushing’s disease, a Chinese study shows. The study, “Evaluation of Lipid Profile and Its Relationship with Blood Pressure in Patients with Cushing’s Disease,” appeared in the journal Endocrine Connections. Patients with Cushing’s…

After adjusting for remission rates, patients with Cushing’s syndrome were found to have similar health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores at long-term follow-up, regardless of whether the disease originated in the pituitary or adrenal gland, according to a recent study. The study, “Worse Health‐Related Quality of Life at…

The Japan Endocrine Society (JES) has proposed new criteria, including reviewed cutoff values for blood cortisol levels, for the diagnosis of adrenal subclinical Cushing’s syndrome (SCS), a type of Cushing’s syndrome that lacks the clinical signs of the disease. The research, “New diagnostic criteria of adrenal subclinical Cushing’s…

A new Phase 2 trial evaluating the promising investigative therapy seliciclib as a treatment for Cushing’s disease is currently enrolling participants. The trial (NCT02160730), at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, will evaluate whether seliciclib can safely suppress the production of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACHT) secreted by the pituitary tumors, normalizing…

The resection of microadenomas — small, benign tumors in the pituitary gland underlying Cushing’s disease — could be aided by a fluorescent marker that is naturally produced by the tumor, a new study shows. The findings were presented recently at the 2018 George Washington Research Days in a poster titled,…

A little-known government entity within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is helping to lead U.S. efforts to speed up the development of therapies for some 7,000 rare diseases. The Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, was established in 1993 within the NIH Office of the…

Inhibiting steroid production with metyrapone, a common therapy used in Cushing’s disease, may not only normalize cortisol levels but also lead to the spontaneous remission of ectopic tumors producing adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), according to a case study. Researchers presented the case of a 71-year old women whose ACTH-producing lung tumor regressed spontaneously…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug status to fluasterone (ST-002) for the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, nonalcoholic steatosis, and high blood sugar in Cushing’s syndrome patients, SteroTherapeutics announced. Cushing’s syndrome occurs when the body is exposed to high levels of the hormone cortisol over a long period.