Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Volume 162, Number 5, November 2000, 1641-1647

Increased Cortisol
Cortisone Ratio in Acute Pulmonary Tuberculosis

ROBERT W. BAKER, BRIAN R. WALKER, RORY J. SHAW, JOHN W. HONOUR, DAVID S. JESSOP, STAFFORD L. LIGHTMAN, ALIMUDDIN ZUMLA, and GRAHAM A. W. ROOK

Centre for Infectious Diseases and Department of Bacteriology, University College and Royal Free School of Medicine, London; Department of Respiratory Medicine, NHLI, Imperial College, London; Division of Molecular Pathology, University College London; Department of Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom; and Endocrinology Unit, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

To evaluate a possible role for altered cortisol metabolism in mediating the immunoparesis associated with progressive tuberculosis (TB), we have studied the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and the activities of the 11-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (11-HSDs) that interconvert active cortisol and inactive cortisone. In active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), the ratio of cortisol/cortisone metabolites in 24-h urine showed a shift towards active cortisol (ratio, 1.19 ± 0.1, n = 16 versus 0. 89 ± 0.05 in cured pulmonary tuberculosis (CTB), n = 13, p < 0. 01; and 0.78 ± 0.04 healthy volunteers (HV), n = 11, p < 0.005). Conversion of cortisone (administered as 25 mg orally) to cortisol in peripheral plasma was higher in PTB (peak 1,157 ± 55 nM, n = 14 versus 862 ± 50 nM in CTB, n = 10, p < 0.005, and 882 ± 73 nM in HV, n = 10; p < 0.005). Cortisol/cortisone ratio was increased in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in PTB (7.73 ± 1.48, mean ± SE, n = 13) compared with HV (4.05 ± 0.38, n = 11, p < 0.05) but was not different in plasma (PTB, 3.25 ± 0.68; HV, 4.01 ± 0.92). Responses of plasma cortisol to dexamethasone, CRH stimulation, and multidose ACTH stimulation were not different. These data suggest that in pulmonary tuberculosis, central control of glucocorticoid production is normal but that peripheral metabolism, in particular in the lung, is deviated in favor of the active metabolite cortisol. This offers a possible mechanism to explain the immunoparesis observed in progressive pulmonary tuberculosis.

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