Cited by 12Adrenal Hormones and DisordersSexual Differentiation and DisordersMetabolism and Genetic Disorders

FDXR variants cause adrenal insufficiency and atypical sexual development

Open access
Pignatti, Emanuele, Slone, Jesse, Gómez Cano, María Ángeles, Campbell, Teresa Margaret, Vu, Jimmy, Sauter, Kay-Sara, Pandey, Amit V., Martínez-Azorín, Francisco +7 more·2024·JCI Insight

Abstract

Genetic defects affecting steroid biosynthesis cause cortisol deficiency and differences of sex development; among these defects are recessive mutations in the steroidogenic enzymes CYP11A1 and CYP11B, whose function is supported by reducing equivalents donated by ferredoxin reductase (FDXR) and ferredoxin. So far, mutations in the mitochondrial flavoprotein FDXR have been associated with a progressive neuropathic mitochondriopathy named FDXR-related mitochondriopathy (FRM), but cortisol insufficiency has not been documented. However, patients with FRM often experience worsening or demise following stress associated with infections. We investigated 2 female patients with FRM carrying the potentially novel homozygous FDXR mutation p.G437R with ambiguous genitalia at birth and sudden death in the first year of life; they presented with cortisol deficiency and androgen excess compatible with 11-hydroxylase deficiency. In addition, steroidogenic FDXR-variant cell lines reprogrammed from 3 patients with FRM fibroblasts displayed deficient mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid production. Finally, Fdxr-mutant mice allelic to the severe p.R386W human variant showed reduced progesterone and corticosterone production. Therefore, our comprehensive studies show that human FDXR variants may cause compensated but possibly life-threatening adrenocortical insufficiency in stress by affecting adrenal glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid synthesis through direct enzyme inhibition, most likely in combination with disturbed mitochondrial redox balance.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1172/jci.insight.179071

Cites

53 of 53 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Review of previously published cases of FRM showed that 20/77 (26%) of these patients also had a history of severe, often life-threatening events or deadly infections suggestive of adrenal insufficiency.

    “Review of the previously published cases of FRM showed that 20/77 (26%) of these patients also had a history of severe, often life-threatening events or deadly infections suggestive of adrenal insufficiency ( 111 ).”
  • A very recent study has now shown adrenal insufficiency in 2 severely affected siblings with FRM, DSD, and hypertension, with a steroid pattern suggesting 11-hydroxylase deficiency.

    “A very recent study has now shown such adrenal insufficiency in 2 severely affected siblings with FRM, DSD, and hypertension, with a steroid pattern suggesting 11-hydroxylase deficiency ( 111 ).”
  • The previously reported mice carrying the Fdxr R389Q mutation also had impaired adrenal function, with impaired corticosterone synthesis, indicative of defective FDXR-supported activity of 11β-hydroxylase (CYP11B1).

    “This study also showed that the previously reported mice carrying the Fdxr R389Q mutation also had impaired adrenal function, with impaired corticosterone synthesis, indicative of defective FDXR-supported activity of 11β-hydroxylase (CYP11B1).”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 54 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [1]Miller WL, et al. The Adrenal Cortex and Its Disorders. In: Sperling MA, ed. Sperling Pediatric Endocrinology, 5th Edition. Elsevier; 2020:425–490.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Pignatti, E., Slone, J., Gómez Cano, M. Á., Campbell, T. M., Vu, J., Sauter, K.-S., Pandey, A. V., Martínez-Azorín, F., Alonso-Riaño, M., Neilson, D. E., Longo, N., du Toit, T., Voegel, C. D., Huang, T., & Flück, C. E.
Affiliations
  • University of Bern (CH)
  • University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
  • Department of Pediatrics, Endocrinology Unit, and
  • Grupo de Enfermedades Raras, Mitocondriales y Neuromusculares (ERMN), Instituto de Investigación Hospital 12 de Octubre (imas12), E-28041 Madrid, Spain.
  • Pathology Department, 12 de Octubre University Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
  • University of Arizona College of Medicine- Phoenix (US)
  • University of Utah (US)
  • Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Department of Pediatrics, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and
Corresponding author
Flück, Christa E.
Venue
JCI Insight
Published
2024-06-17
Volume
9
Issue
14
ISSN
2379-3708 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4399728102
Cited by
12
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 1
FWCI
3.93
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • JCI Insight (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF 320030-146127)
  • McKeefrey Pediatric Genetics Foundation (Grant for Pediatric Genetics)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Clinical Biochemistry › Metabolism and Genetic Disorders
Keywords
ferredoxin reductase, adrenal insufficiency, cortisol deficiency, ambiguous genitalia, CYP11B, CYP11A1, mitochondrial flavoprotein, mineralocorticoid synthesis, glucocorticoid synthesis, mitochondrial redox balance, fibroblast reprogramming
MeSH terms
Adrenal Insufficiency, Animals, Female, Ferredoxin-NADP Reductase, Fibroblasts, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Infant, Male, Mutation, Disorders of Sex Development, Mitochondrial Diseases, Mice

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review