ESPE Abstracts

Background: The pathophysiological link between the stress axis and mental health disorders is well established. However, the impact of inborn errors of steroidogenesis on the brain remains elusive. We analysed the brain transcriptome of adult zebrafish with impaired steroidogenesis to study the role of steroid hormones in the development of mental and psychiatric disorders.Methods: Adult brains from two established zebr...

Background: Patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) require life-long glucocorticoid (GC) replacement and have high prevalence of metabolic disease. Our previous work using a zebrafish model of 21OHD (cyp21a2-/-) showed that cortisol-deficient adults were fertile and had normal external sex characteristics, however, they had large body size and increased subcutaneous and visceral fat deposition compared to wild-types. Unlike human 21OHD, they ...