Modulation of cortisol metabolism by the growth hormone receptor antagonist pegvisomant in patients with acromegaly.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The two isoenzymes of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase are responsible for the interconversion of cortisol and its inactive metabolite cortisone.

The net activity of the enzyme can be measured by analysis of the urinary ratio of 11-hydroxy/11-oxo cortisol metabolites or of the urinary ratio of tetrahydrocortisol/tetrahydrocortisone [(tetrahydrocortisol + 5alpha-tetrahydrocortisol)/tetrahydrocortisone].

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and double-blind study.

Because people in this Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

What Was Measured

The net activity of the enzyme can be measured by analysis of the urinary ratio of 11-hydroxy/11-oxo cortisol metabolites or of the urinary ratio of tetrahydrocortisol/tetrahydrocortisone [(tetrahydrocortisol + 5alpha-tetrahydrocortisol)/tetrahydrocortisone].

PubMed files the paper under topics including 11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases, Acromegaly, Human Growth Hormone, Hydrocortisone, Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I and Receptors, Somatotropin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and double-blind study of Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases.

The publication is from 2001 (The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.