![](bg37.jpg)
insulin resistance. In Cushing’s syndrome, 11βHSD1 is
downregulated, suggesting that it may adjust local corti-
sol concentrations independently of its plasma levels.
11βHSD1 seems also to play a role in the complex
pathophysiology of the MS and in energy partitioning.
Future clinical studies are envisioned to prove the effica-
cy of selective 11βHSD1 inhibition.
REFERENCES
1. New MI, Levine LS, Biglieri EG, Pareira J, Ulick S. Evidence
for an unidentified steroid in a child with apparent mineralo-
corticoid hypertension. J Clin Endocrinol Metab
1977;44:924-33.
2. Ulick S, Levine LS, Gunczler P, Zanconato G, Ramires LC,
Raul W, et al. A syndrome of apparent mineralocorticoid
excess associated with defects in the peripheral metabolism
of cortisol. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1979;49:757-64.
3. Lakshmi V, Monder C. Purification and characterization of the
11β-dehydrogenase component of the rat liver 11β-hydroxys-
teroid dehydrogenase complex. Endocrinology 1988;
123:2390-8.
4. Low SC, Assaad SN, Rajan V, Chapman KE, Edwards CR,
Seckl JR. Regulation of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase
by sex steroids in vivo: further evidence for the existence of
a second dehydrogenase in rat kidney. J Endocrinol 1993;
139:27-35.
5. Seckl JR, Walker BR. 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type
1 as a modulator of glucocorticoid action: from metabolism to
memory. Trends Endocrinol Metab 2004;15:418-24.
6. Bujalska IJ, Kumar S, Stewart PM. Does central obesity reflect
“Cushing’s disease of the omentum”? Lancet 1997;349:
1210-3.
7. Bujalska IJ, Kumar S, Hewison M, Stewart PM. A switch in the
dehydrogenase to reductase activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid
dehydrogenase type 1 upon differentiation of human omen-
tal adipose stromal cells. J Clin Endocrinol Metab
2002;87:1205-10.
8. Masuzaki H, Yamamoto H, Kenyon CJ, Elmquist JK, Morton
NM, Paterson JM, et al. Transgenic amplification of glucocor-
ticoid action in adipose tissue causes high blood pressure in
mice. J Clin Invest 2003;112:83-90.
9. Morton NM, Paterson JM, Masuzaki H, Holmes MC, Staels B,
Fievet C, et al. Novel adipose tissue-mediated resistance to
diet-induced visceral obesity in 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydro-
genase type 1 deficient mice. Diabetes 2004;53:931-8.
10. Cushing H. The basophil adenomas of the pituitary body and
their clinical manifestations (pituitary basophilism). Bull
Johns Hopkins Hosp 1932;50:137-95.
11. Stewart PM. Tissue-specific Cushing’s syndrome, 11β-hydrox-
ysteroid dehydrogenase and the redefinition of corticosteroid
hormone action. Eur J Endocrinol 2003;149:163-8.
12. Stewart PM. The adrenal cortex. In: Larsen PR, Kronenberg
HM, Melmed S, Polonsky KS, Foster DW, Wilson JD.
Williams textbook of endocrinology. 10
th
ed. Philadel-
phia: Saunders, 2003. pp. 491-539.
13. Lönn L, Kvist H, Ernest I, Sjöström L. Changes in body com-
position and adipose tissue distribution after treatment of
women with Cushing’s syndrome. Metabolism 1994;43:
1517-22.
14. Rebuffe-Scrive M, Krotkiewski M, Elfverson J, Bjorntorp P.
Muscle and adipose tissue morphology and metabolism in
Cushing’s syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1988;67:
1122-8.
15. Walker BR. Extra-adrenal regeneration of glucorticoids by
11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1: physiological reg-
ulator and pharmacological target for energy petitioning.
Proc Nutr Soc 2007;66:1-8.
16. Reaven GM. Role of insulin resistance in human disease. Dia-
betes 1988;37:1595-607.
17. Ljung T, Andersson B, Bengtson BA, Bjorntorp P, Marin P.
Inhibition of cortisol secretion by dexamethasone in relation
to body fat distribution: a dose response study. Obes Res
1996;4:277-82.
18. Jessop DF, Dallman MF, Flaming D, Lightman SL. Resistance
to glucocorticoid feedback in obesity. J Clin Endocrinol
Metab 2001;86:4109-14.
19. Pasquali R, Ambrosi B, Armanini D, Cavagnine F, Uberti ED,
Del Rio G, et al. Cortisol and ACTH response to oral dexam-
ethasone in obesity and effects of sex, body fat distribution,
and dexamethasone concentrations: a dose-response study.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2002;87:166-75.
20. Ljung T, Holm G, Friberg P, Bjorn A, Bengtsson B-A, Svens-
son J, et al. The activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adren-
al-axis and the sympathetic nervous system in relation to
waist-hip circumference in men. Obes Res 2000;8:487-95.
21. Pasquali R, Cantobelli S, Casimirri F, Capelli M, Bortoluzzi L,
Flamia R, et al. The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis in
obese women with different patterns of body fat distribution.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1993;77:341-6.
22. Purnell JQ, Brandon DD, Isabelle LM, Loriaux DL, Samuels
MH. Association of 24h-cortisol production rates, cortisol
binding globulin, and plasma free cortisol levels with body
composition, leptin levels, and aging in adult men women. J
Clin Endocrinol Metab 2004;89:281-7.
23. Rask E, Olsson T, Soderberg S, Andrew R, Livingstone DE,
Johnson O, et al. Tissue-specific dysregulation of cortisol
metabolism in human obesity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab
2001;86:1418-21.
24. Masuzaki H, Paterson JM, Shinyama H, Morton NM, Mullins
JJ, Seckl JR, et al. A transgenic model of visceral obesity and
the metabolic syndrome. Science 2001;294:2166-70.
25. Paterson JM, Morton NM, Fievet C, Kenyon CJ, Holmes MC,
Staels B, et al. Metabolic syndrome without obesity: hepatic
overexpression of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 in
transgenic mice. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 2004; 101:7088-93.
26. Morton NM, Ramage L, Seckl JR. Down-regulation of adipose
tissue 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 by high fat
feeding in mice: a potential adaptive mechanism counteract-
ing metabolic disease. Endocrinology 2004;145:2707-12.
27. Alberts P, Engblom L, Eddling N, Forsgren M, Klingstron G,
Larsson C, et al. Selective inhibition of 11β-hydroxysteroid
dehydrogenase type 1 decreased blood glucose concentrations
in hyperglycaemic mice. Diabetologia 2002;45:1528-32.
28. Hermanowski-Vosatka A, Blakovec JM, Cheng K, Chen HY,
Hernandez, Koo GC, et al. 11β-HSD1 inhibition ameliorates
metabolic syndrome and prevents progression of atheroscle-
rosis in mice. J Exp Med 2005;202:517-27.
29. Paulmyer-Lacroix O, Boullu S, Oliver C, Alessi MC, Grino M.
Expression of the mRNA coding for 11β-hydroxysteroid
dehydrogenase type 1 in adipose tissue from obese patients:
an in situ hybridization study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab
2001;87:2701-5.
30. Wake DJ, Rask E, Livingstone, Sodeberg S, Olsson T, Walker
BR. Local and systemic impact of transcriptional up-regula-
tion of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 in adipose
tissue in human obesity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab
2003;88:3983-8.
31. Lindsay RS, Wake JW, Saraswathy N, Bunt J, Livingstone
DEW, Permana PA, et al. Subcutaneous adipose 11β-hydrox-
ysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 activity and messenger
ribonucleic acid levels are associated with adiposity and insu-
linemia in Pima Indians and Caucasians. J Clin Endocrinol
Metab 2003;88:2738-44.
32. Engeli S, Bohnke J, Feldpausch M, Gorzelniak K, Heintze U,
Janke J, et al. Regulation of 11β-HSD genes in human adi-
pose tissue: influence of central obesity and weight loss.
Obes Res 2004;12:9-17.
33. Tomlinson JW, Sinha B, Bujalska I, Hewison M, Stewart PM.
Expression of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 in
adipose tissue is not increased in human obesity. J Clin
Endocrinol Metab 2002;87:5630-5.
11
β
-HSD1 in Cushing’s Syndrome and Obesity
Espíndola-Antunes & Kater
1402 Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab 2007;51/8
25-Antunes-AF 26/11/07 11:25 Page 1402