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Upon-Admission Adrenal Steroidogenesis Is Adapted to the Degree of Illness in Intensive Care Unit Patients

Division of Military Trauma, Letterman Army Institute of Research, Presidio of San Francisco, California 94129-6800
The Departments of Medicine and Clinical Investigations, Letterman Army Medical Center Presidio of San Francisco, California 94129-6800

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Charles E. Wade, Ph.D., Division of Military Trauma Research, Letterman Army Institute of Research, Presidio of San Francisco, California 94129-6800.

Adrenal function was studied in 2 groups of intensive care unit (ICU) patients with varying degrees of illness, as determined by Acute Physiological and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE). The 15 seriously ill patients with high APACHE scores (25) had elevated Therapeutic Intervention Scores and increased mortality compared to the 15 ill patients (APACHE, 10; 67% vs. 27%). Plasma cortisol, aldosterone, and androstenedione concentrations were increased in the ICU patients compared to those in normal subjects (n = 23), being greater in the seriously ill patients. Plasma dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) concentrations were low in both groups of ICU patients. The ratios of aldosterone or androstenedione to cortisol were not altered, whereas the DHEAS to cortisol ratios were reduced in the ICU patients. ACTH injection elicited increases in plasma cortisol, aldosterone, and androstenedione concentrations in both groups of ICU patients, and the ratios of aldosterone and androstenedione to cortisol did not change. In the seriously ill patients, plasma DHEAS increased, so that the DHEAS to cortisol ratio did not change, whereas in less ill patients plasma DHEAS did not increase, so that the DHEAS to cortisol ratio was reduced. In this study of patients admitted to an ICU, impairment of adrenal steroid secretion appears to be specific for DHEAS. Although plasma cortisol was elevated in ill patients proportional to the degree of illness, the contribution of the concomitant decrease in DHEAS to this increase is not clear.

Received December 29, 1987.

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