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Hypertension. 1999;34:435-441

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(Hypertension. 1999;34:435-441.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.


Scientific Contributions

Genetic, Biochemical, and Clinical Studies of Patients With A328V or R213C Mutations in 11ßHSD2 Causing Apparent Mineralocorticoid Excess

Gilles Morineau; Jean-Michel Marc; Ahmed Boudi; Herve Galons; Micheline Gourmelen; Pierre Corvol; Leigh Pascoe; Jean Fiet

From Biologie Hormonale (G.M., J.F.), Hôpital Saint-Louis, France; Néphrologie, CHG (J.-M.M.), Annonay, France; Chimie Organique, Faculté de Pharmacie (A.B., H.G.), Paris, France; Service d'Explorations Fonctionnelles (M.G.), Hôpital Trousseau, Paris, France; Inserm U36 (P.C.), Collège de France, Paris, France; Fondation Jean Dausset CEPH (L.P.), Paris, France; and Biochimie, Faculté de Pharmacie (J.F.), Paris, France.


*    Abstract
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Abstract—Apparent mineralocorticoid excess is a recessively inherited hypertensive syndrome caused by mutations in the 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 gene, which encodes the enzyme normally responsible for converting cortisol to inactive cortisone. Failure to convert cortisol to cortisone in mineralocorticoid-sensitive tissues permits cortisol to bind to and activate mineralocorticoid receptors, causing hypervolemic hypertension. Typically, these patients have increased ratios of cortisol to cortisone and of 5{alpha}- to 5ß-cortisol metabolites in serum and urine. We have studied 3 patients in 2 families with severe, apparent mineralocorticoid excess and other family members in terms of their genetic, biochemical, and clinical parameters, as well as normal controls. Two brothers were homozygous for an A328V mutation and the third patient was homozygous for an R213C mutation in the 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 gene; both mutations caused a marked reduction in the activity of the encoded enzymes in transfection assays. The steroid profiles of the 7 heterozygotes and 2 other family members studied were completely normal. The results of a novel assay used to distinguish 5{alpha}- and 5ß-tetrahydrometabolites suggest that 5ß-reductase activity is reduced or inhibited in apparent mineralocorticoid excess. In 1 patient undergoing renal dialysis for chronic renal insufficiency, direct control of salt and water balance completely corrected the hypertension, emphasizing the importance of mineralocorticoid action in this syndrome.


Key Words: hydroxysteroid • tetrahydrocortisone • hemodialysis • mutation • hypertension, genetic


*    Introduction
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Apparent mineralocorticoid excess (AME) is a rare and severe form of hypertension characterized by an early age of onset and signs of excess mineralocorticoid activity.1 2 It has an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance3 and is caused by mutations in the 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11ßHSD2) gene, which result in a deficiency in the activity of the encoded 11ßHSD2 enzyme4 5 that catalyzes the conversion of cortisol to cortisone and of corticosterone to 11-dehydrocorticosterone.6 Cortisol and corticosterone are agonists with high affinity for the mineralocorticoid receptor, comparable to the principal mineralocorticoid hormone aldosterone, whereas cortisone and 11-dehydrocorticosterone have a low affinity for the receptor.7 The catalytic action of 11ßHSD2 ensures, in part, that binding and activation of the mineralocorticoid receptor is effected only by aldosterone, since this steroid is not a substrate for the 11ßHSD2 enzyme.

In patients with a hereditary defect of 11ßHSD2 enzymatic activity, cortisol, which circulates at much greater concentrations than aldosterone, acts as a potent mineralocorticoid hormone, inducing hypervolemic hypertension. The AME syndrome has been biochemically characterized by increased cortisol-to-cortisone ratios in serum and urine, or of the urinary cortisol metabolites, 5ß-tetrahydrocortisol (5ßTHF) and 5{alpha}-tetrahydrocortisol (5{alpha}THF), relative to the cortisone metabolite 5ß-tetrahydrocortisone (5ßTHE) (Figure 1). An increase in the ratio of urinary 5{alpha}THF to 5ßTHF is also typically found in most of these patients,2 8 9 for which no explanation has yet been furnished.10 A second form of AME (AME type 2) has also been reported,11 12 and its molecular basis has recently been ascribed to mutations that partially inactivate the 11ßHSD2 enzyme.10 Here we report genetic, biochemical, and clinical follow-up studies of 3 AME type 1 patients (2 of them siblings), as well as their relatives, and 91 normal individuals. The AME patients were investigated by a newly developed assay for determination of the urinary 5{alpha}-tetrahydroderivative of cortisone (5{alpha}THE) and dehydrocorticosterone (5{alpha}THA). Quantification of these steroids has enabled us to postulate a mechanism for the increased 5{alpha}THF-to-5ßTHF ratio encountered in AME. One of our patients was subjected to long-term hemodialysis, and she was evaluated both before and after dialysis.



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Figure 1. Metabolism of cortisol and cortisone. In mineralocorticoid-sensitive tissues, oxidation of cortisol to cortisone is catalyzed by the 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11ßHSD2) enzyme. In the liver, cortisone is reduced to cortisol by the 11ßHSD1 enzyme, and both cortisol and cortisone are reduced by 5ß-reductase to yield 5ßTHF and 5ßTHE, respectively. Cortisol may also be reduced to 5{alpha}THF by the 5{alpha}-reductase enzyme, whereas cortisone is a poor substrate for this enzyme. In patients with AME, in addition to a decrease in the oxidation of cortisol to cortisone by the 11ßHSD2 enzyme, 5ß-reductase activity is decreased relative to 5{alpha}-reductase activity, resulting in an increase in the 5{alpha}THF-to-5ßTHF ratio. See text for additional explanation of metabolite terminology.


*    Methods
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Patients A and B
Patients A and B are brothers of Portuguese origin whose parents are first cousins. They were diagnosed as having AME in 1993 on the basis of hypertension, hypokalemia, hypoaldosteronemia, hyporeninemia, and low excretion of urinary 5ßTHE compared with 5ßTHF and 5{alpha}THF.13 The 2 brothers have been repeatedly evaluated for their urinary corticoid excretion and blood cortisol, cortisone, renin, aldosterone, deoxycorticosterone, and corticosterone levels. Similar studies were performed on their mother, father, unaffected brother, and uncle.

Patient C
The third patient (C) was diagnosed at age 4 as having arterial hypertension (140/60 mm Hg), hypokalemic alkalosis, low plasma renin and aldosterone levels, microcalcifications, and pseudocystic right kidney with fibrosis of 7 of 22 glomeruli on renal biopsy.14 A positive diagnosis of AME was established at age 30, and the patient was reevaluated at the beginning of 1997, before and after institution of dexamethasone (DXM, 0.5 mg/d) therapy, and later in 1997 after hemodialysis (4 hours, 3 times a week) had been initiated. She was subjected to the same biochemical and genetic testing15 as patients A and B, together with her mother, sister, and 3 children.

Control Subjects
Healthy, white, nonsmoking volunteers (51 women and 40 men), with ages ranging from 21 to 46 years and taking no medication, contraceptives, or licorice, provided blood samples at 8 AM and 24-hour urine samples to establish the reference values of the parameters tested. All investigations conformed to the ethical standards of the Helsinki declaration (1975) as revised at Tokyo (1983).

Analysis of Genomic DNA
Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes, and the exons and intron-exon junctions of the 11ßHSD2 gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The samples were denatured at 94°C for 1 minute, followed by 30 amplification cycles (94°C for 1 minute, 60°C to 70°C for 1 minute, and 72°C for 2 minutes, with an additional 5 seconds in each cycle) and 1 cycle at 72°C for 7 minutes. Amplified DNA fragments were purified from low-melting-point agarose gels with Gelase (Epicentre Technologies), and the purified DNA was then sequenced on both strands by the Sanger method of dideoxynucleotide chain termination by using T7 Sequenase version 2 (Amersham).

In Vitro Mutagenesis
Mutations were introduced into the wild-type 11ßHSD2 cDNA by site-directed PCR mutagenesis, as previously described.16 The PCR reaction was optimized to facilitate amplification of the GC-rich (62%) sequence by using a mix of Taq DNA polymerase (5 U/mL) and Pfu DNA polymerase (2.5 U/mL) in 200 mmol/L Tris, pH 8.8; 3 mmol/L MgCl2; 160 mmol/L NH4SO4; and 7.5% dimethyl sulfoxide in a single reaction.17 The mutated 11ßHSD2 cDNAs were subcloned into the HindIII and XbaI restriction sites of the pcDNA1 expression vector (In Vitrogen).

Transfection and Expression Studies
Normal and mutated 11ßHSD2 cDNAs (2 µg) were transfected into 70% confluent cells from a Chinese hamster ovary line (CHOP cells, kindly provided by Dr James Dennis) with Lipofectamine (GIBCO BRL) according to the manufacturer's instructions. CHOP cells were grown in Ham's F12 medium with 2 mmol/L glutamine and 10% decomplemented fetal bovine serum (Boehringer Mannheim). After 12 hours, the transfected cells were incubated with 2 nmol/L tritiated and 200 nmol/L unlabeled steroid (cortisol or corticosterone), and the resulting products were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with an online ß-detection system (Radiomatic, Flo-one, Packard Instruments). Apparent kinetic constants (Km and Vmax) were calculated from 2-hour incubations of 2 nmol/L tritiated steroid with 10, 50, 200, 600, 1500, and 5000 nmol/L unlabeled steroid and analysis by Lineweaver-Burk plot. The results presented are the mean of 2 independent experiments. The efficiency of the transfection was verified by Northern blot analysis (5 µg total RNA) and reverse transcription PCR (data not shown).

Biochemical Assays
Serum was drawn between 8 and 9 AM after 1 hour of upright posture. Renin and aldosterone were evaluated by radioimmunoassay with Renin III (ERIA Diagnostics Pasteur) and TKAL (DPC) kits. Cortisol and cortisone in blood and 24-hour urine were determined by radioimmunoassay after chromatography as previously described.18

Estimation of 17 hydroxycorticosteroids was carried out by gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection of the methyloxime trimethylsilyl ether derivatives after extraction, hydrolysis, and purification of 24-hour urinary steroids as previously described.13 To quantify 5{alpha}THE and 5{alpha}THA, which coelute with 5ßTHF and 5{alpha}THB, respectively, on OV1 columns, the gaseous phase was separated into 2 parts and passed simultaneously over an OV1 and an SPB20 capillary column before detection of the steroids; the SPB20 column allows separation and quantification of 5{alpha}THE and 5{alpha}THA. The remaining steroids were determined from the OV1 effluent, directly for 5ßTHE, 5{alpha}THF, 5ßTHB, and 5ßTHA and after subtraction of 5{alpha}THE and 5{alpha}THA for 5ßTHF and 5{alpha}THB, respectively.

Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry
The identity of the trimethylsilyl ether derivatives of the steroids was assessed by mass fragmentography by using a Nermag R30-10 triple-quadrupole spectrometer and electron-impact ionization.


*    Results
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Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry Analysis
Effective separation of 5{alpha}THE from 5ßTHF and of 5{alpha}THA from 5{alpha}THB was obtained on the SPB20 column (Figure 2). Identification of 5{alpha}THE and 5{alpha}THA methyloxime trimethylsilyl ether derivatives by electron-impact ionization mass spectrometry produced mass spectra that were identical to those of 5ßTHE and 5ßTHA (Figure 2). The detection limit of the method (zero+3SD) is 0.01 mg, with an interassay reproducibility (coefficient of variation for 10 repeats) between 11% and 14% for 5ßTHE, 5ßTHF, 5{alpha}THF, and 5ßTHB and of 12% to 17% for 5{alpha}THE, 5{alpha}THB, 5{alpha}THA, and 5ßTHA. Our normal values (see Table) are in good agreement with those of other authors,19 20 but the normal ratios we observed are slightly wider than those usually reported.3 12 21



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Figure 2. Gas chromatography separation of tetrahydroderivatives of steroids on OV1 and SPB20 columns and mass spectra of purified metabolites. Chromatograms of apparent mineralocorticoid excess patient B (1 and 2) and a normal control (3 and 4) show that steroids 5ßTHE and 5ßTHF were decreased and that steroids 5{alpha}THE and 5{alpha}THF were normal in this patient. Mass spectra of the methyloxime tri-trimethylsilyl ether derivative 5{alpha}THE (5) and the methyloxime ditrimethylsilyl ether derivative 5{alpha}THA (6) in electron-impact ionization mode showed the expected molecular ion at a mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of 609 and a characteristic ion at m/z=578 for 5{alpha}THE, and the molecular ion at m/z=521 and the characteristic ion at m/z=490 for 5{alpha}THA. See text for additional explanation of metabolite terminology.


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Table 1. Clinical Data and Plasma and Urinary Hormonal Results for Apparent Mineralocorticoid Excess Patients at Various Times

Genetic Results
Direct DNA sequencing of 11ßHSD2 exons from patients A and B revealed a homozygous mutation of codon 328 (exon 5) of the 11ßHSD2 gene, from GCG to GTG (A328V). The father and mother were heterozygous for the same mutation, whereas the brother and uncle were homozygous for the normal sequence.

Patient C had a homozygous mutation in codon 213 (exon 3) of CGC to TGC (R213C). Her mother, sister, son, and 2 daughters were heterozygous for the same mutation. Expression of the mutated cDNA, followed by 16 hours of incubation with tritiated steroid precursors (Figure 3), showed that the 2 mutant enzymes converted <5% of cortisol or corticosterone to cortisone or 11-dehydrocorticosterone, respectively. The normal 11ßHSD2 cDNA resulted in 100% conversion of the substrates under the same conditions. Both reverse transcription PCR and Northern blot analysis of RNA from the transfected cells verified the efficiency of the transfection and transcription of the mRNAs (not shown). The apparent Km and Vmax for the normal 11ßHSD2 enzyme in our system were, respectively, 117 nmol/L and 1.07 pmol · min-1 · well-1 for corticosterone and 254 nmol/L and 0.46 pmol · min-1 · well-1 for cortisol, consistent with reports from other authors using the same system.22 23 Similar constants could not be calculated for the mutant enzymes owing to their very low activity.



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Figure 3. Radioactive plots of high-performance liquid chromatography separation of tritiated steroids produced in transfection experiments. Wild-type and mutated 11ßHSD2 cDNAs were transfected into cells from a Chinese hamster ovary line (CHOP cells) and incubated with 2 nmol/L tritiated corticosterone (B) and 200 nmol/L unlabeled corticosterone for up to 16 hours. 1, The medium before incubation containing only tritiated corticosterone. 2 and 3, The same medium after 1 hour and 16 hours of incubation with CHOP cells transfected with the wild-type 11ßHSD2 cDNA. Approximately 50% of the corticosterone is oxidized to dehydrocorticosterone (A) after 1 hour and 100% is oxidized after 16 hours of incubation. After 16-hour incubation with mutated cDNAs A328V (4) or R213C (5), no significant transformation of corticosterone to dehydrocorticosterone was detected. Incubation with tritiated cortisol as the substrate led to similar results, with 50% transformation to cortisone by the wild-type form after 2 hours and complete transformation after 16 hours. Mutated cDNAs resulted in no detectable oxidase activity after 16 hours of incubation (not shown).

Biological Results
None of the unaffected members of the 2 families explored, including the heterozygous individuals and the homozygous normal individuals, showed any metabolic abnormality in blood or urine (kalemia, renin, aldosterone, cortisol, cortisone, or their metabolites), as is expected for a recessively inherited disease.

The 3 patients, on the contrary, displayed all of the features of AME (the Table). Serum and urinary cortisone levels were low and cortisol-to-cortisone ratios (F-to-E) were high. Owing to the reduced conversion of cortisol to cortisone, urinary free cortisol was high in non–DXM-treated patients. A disturbed balance between cortisol and cortisone metabolites was observed in urinary samples, with an elevated ratio of (5ßTHF+5{alpha}THF) to 5ßTHE, due principally to diminished secretion of 5ßTHE. This was accompanied by an increase in the 5{alpha}THF-to-5ßTHF ratios and also the 5{alpha}THE-to-5ßTHE ratios, indicating a shift from 5ß-reductase toward 5{alpha}-reductase metabolism. The serum and urinary F-to-E and (5ßTHF+5{alpha}THF)-to-5ßTHE ratios remained elevated for patient A, irrespective of the efficacy of blood pressure control, whereas 5{alpha}THF/5ßTHF decreased to normal values after DXM treatment. His cortisol clearance (as reflected by the [5ßTHF+5{alpha}THF+5ßTHE]-to–urinary free cortisol ratio) was generally diminished, but the A-ring reduction constant ([5ßTHF+5{alpha}THF]/urinary free cortisol) was normal.

In the urine of normal subjects, 5{alpha}THE values were low compared with 5ßTHF, 5{alpha}THF, and 5ßTHE values, indicating that cortisone is a less-efficient substrate for 5{alpha}-reductase than is cortisol, whereas cortisol and cortisone have similar affinities for the 5ß-reductase enzyme.

Clinical Results
In addition to the severe hypertension seen in patients A and B, their uncle exhibited sustained hypertension (160 to 180/120 to 140 mm Hg), whereas their father, mother, and brother were normotensive. When reevaluated in 1997, patient A was treated with nifedipine LD 20 mg/d (a calcium antagonist) and DXM 0.5 mg/d. Arterial blood pressure remained elevated (172/106 supine). Plasma potassium was low to normal (3.7 to 4.2 mmol/L), and urinary free cortisol was low, reflecting the DXM treatment. Ultrasonography revealed slight, diffuse, renal cortical atrophy, and the heart showed an eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy, with a high cardiac mass at 131 g/m2 (normal<125). Addition of an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (benazepril 10 mg/d) to his therapy lowered blood pressure to 144/86 and the left cardiac hypertrophy regressed (cardiac mass 102 g/m2). However, within an additional 6 months, his blood pressure had again risen to 162/80. Additional treatment with furosemide (40 mg/d) and amiloride (5 mg/d) resulted in sustained lowering of blood pressure (140/90).

In 1997, patient B had followed no therapy other than potassium supplementation (24 mEq/d). Arterial blood pressure was 162/88 mm Hg supine. There was no sign of left ventricular hypertrophy. Renal ultrasonography was normal, but there was slight proteinuria (0.55 g/24 h) accompanied by high calcium and sodium excretion (9 mmol and 181 mmol/24 h, respectively). In spite of the potassium supplementation, serum potassium was low (3.1 to 3.3 mmol/L), as were renin and aldosterone, and free urinary cortisol was high (198 µg/24 h). A low-sodium diet and DXM 0.5 mg/d were recommended to the patient, which normalized blood pressure (145/85, 18 months later).

The mother of patient C had experienced 3 miscarriages before giving birth to 2 daughters and was diagnosed as having hypertension during her first pregnancy. The patient's grandmother was also hypertensive, whereas her sister and her 3 children were normotensive. Her father had a history of hypertension and had died of a cerebrovascular accident.

Patient C had been prescribed several classes of antihypertensive agents over the last 20 years, including amlodipine (5 mgx2/d), rilmenidine (1 mg/d), and urapidil (60 mgx2/d), with poor blood pressure stabilization {approx}160/100 mm Hg. She also received 32 meq K+/d to correct hypokalemia and calcium carbonate (3.62 g Ca2+/d) and alfacalcidol (1 µg/d) to correct hypocalcemia, which nonetheless remained at 1.75 mmol/L (normal 2.4 to 2.62). She had previously undergone subtotal parathyroidectomy for hyperparathyroidism that was secondary to the persistent hypocalcemia but that had attained a degree of autonomous regulation. Because analysis of her urinary corticoid metabolites (the Table) was consistent with AME, her antihypertensive treatment was modified by the addition of DXM (0.5, then 1 mg/d), resulting in better control of blood pressure, and the associated therapy was reduced to atenolol (50 mg/d) and DXM (1 mg/d). An attempt to withdraw the atenolol completely was followed by a mild increase in blood pressure. At the beginning of 1997, she presented with severe renal insufficiency and was put on hemodialysis (4 hours, 3 times a week), enabling direct control of water and salt balance that, with accompanying weight loss, further improved her blood pressure. All antihypertensive therapy was then progressively removed until her blood pressure was equilibrated by dialysis alone.


*    Discussion
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Our results highlight the severe complications that may arise in inadequately treated AME patients and the clinical differences that can be observed in individuals with identical mutations. The A328V mutation has been independently reported in a 7-year-old Brazilian girl with AME24 whose heterozygous father was found to be hypertensive, with suppressed plasma renin activity and aldosterone and a persistently elevated (5{alpha}THF+5ßTHF)/5ßTHE ratio of 2.79 (normal 0.8 to 1.4), but with normokalemia. This was the first such suggestion of hypertension with an AME pattern of steroid metabolites in a heterozygote for an 11ßHSD2 mutation.

In the family with an A328V mutation that we studied, there was little evidence for an effect of the mutation in heterozygous individuals. The heterozygous mother and brother were normotensive, and the uncle, who was homozygous for the normal sequence, had established hypertension. Furthermore, the biological exploration and steroid metabolites were completely normal for all heterozygotes in this family as well as in the other family investigated.

The 2 affected brothers displayed some clinical differences in the expression of the disease. Although untreated, patient B showed no sign of left ventricular hypertrophy, while his brother (patient A), who was receiving DXM therapy, had significant left ventricular hypertrophy. Clearly, there is variability of the clinical and biological phenotype independent of the 11ßHSD2 genotype.

The R213C mutation has been reported in 2 homozygous sisters with AME5 and in an unrelated male.25 We found the activity of the mutated enzyme to be <5% of the wild-type enzyme for both cortisol and corticosterone, which compares well with the 3.6% and 2.2%, respectively, previously reported.23

The most significant diagnostic feature for AME appears to be the decrease of cortisone in blood and urine and the increased ratio of 11-hydroxymetabolites to 11-oxometabolites of cortisol. The (5ßTHF+5{alpha}THF)-to-5ßTHE ratio and the cortisol-metabolizing quotient (5ßTHF+ 5{alpha}THF+5ßTHE/urinary free cortisol) were also a useful diagnostic feature. The A-ring reduction constant ([5ßTHF+ 5{alpha}THF]/urinary free cortisol) was always the same in our patients as in normal subjects and thus seems to be a less useful diagnostic indicator of AME.

The method of steroid determination used in this study allowed separate quantification of 5{alpha}THE. The amounts of 5{alpha}THE secreted are low compared with 5ßTHF, 5{alpha}THF, and 5ßTHE, consistent with a previous report26 that found <2% metabolism of [4-14C]cortisol into 5{alpha}THE and with the values reported27 in cases of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Separate quantification of this metabolite confirms that cortisone has a low affinity for the 5{alpha}-reductase enzyme, whereas cortisol has an approximately equal affinity for the 5{alpha}- and 5ß-reductase enzymes. In normal subjects, both 5{alpha}-reductase and 5ß-reductase metabolize cortisol, leading to approximately equal amounts of 5{alpha}THF and 5ßTHF, whereas cortisone is reduced mainly to 5ßTHE by 5ß-reductase. It appears that in AME patients, 5ß-reductase activity is reduced, as reflected by the generally low ratios of 5ßTHF/F and 5ßTHE/E (the Table). In contrast, the ratios of 5{alpha}THF/F are in the normal range. These results suggest that the increased ratio of 5{alpha}THF/5ßTHF, often observed in AME patients, is principally due to downregulation of 5ß-reductase activity of undetermined origin. Although frequent in AME, the high 5{alpha}THF-to-5ßTHF ratio is not universal.3 28 For example, this ratio decreased in our patient A after DXM treatment for reasons that are not clear at the present time. Further study of steroid metabolism in AME patients by the methods presented here is clearly warranted.

As expected in a patient with hypermineralocorticism, the blood pressure of our AME patient with chronic renal insufficiency was completely normalized by hemodialysis, enabling discontinuation of her antihypertensive therapy. This can be attributed to a lowering of serum sodium levels and direct control of water balance. In most AME cases reported, a low-sodium diet has had a beneficial effect on the control of hypertension. This suggests that studies of 11ßHSD2 function in hypertension should be centered on salt-sensitive and low-renin forms of hypertension.

Several studies in addition to ours have noted the occurrence of multiple miscarriages in mothers of AME patients.24 29 Because 11ßHSD2 is strongly expressed in the placenta and may play a protective role for the developing fetus,30 a more systematic study of this phenomenon may be warranted.


*    Acknowledgments
 
This work was supported in part by a grant from the IPSEN Foundation for Therapeutic Research to L.P. We thank Dr Zygmund Krozowski for his generous gift of 11ßHSD cDNA; Drs Pierre-François Plouin, Christine Massien-Simon, and Marie-Christine Jubert for monitoring patients; Denis Lesage and Jean-Claude Tabet for mass spectrometry expertise; Florent Soubrier and Hany Soliman for helpful advice; and Marlyn Cohen, Françoise Quilin, Carole Ouabdelkader, Eliane Rolle, Laurence Homyrda, and François Rocher for expert technical assistance.


*    Footnotes
 
Reprint requests to Dr Gilles Morineau, Biologie Hormonale, Hôpital Saint-Louis, 1 Ave Claude Vellefaux, 75010 Paris, France.

Received March 8, 1999; first decision March 25, 1999; accepted May 24, 1999.


*    References
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*References
 

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