Sam Hendrix, 844-3698 (hendrj1@vetmed.auburn.edu)

AU RESEARCH ASSOCIATE RECEIVES $200,000 NIH GRANT FOR STUDY

AUBURN -- An Auburn University researcher has received a $200,000 National Institutes of Health grant to fund a three-year study of a gland disorder that affects both dogs and humans.

Ellen Behrend, a senior research fellow in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology in AU's College of Veterinary Medicine, is searching for clues to learn more about the nature of Cushing's Disease.

The grant, a Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award, represents one way NIH promotes post-medical training for young researchers.

"I'm very excited about being selected," said Behrend, who has a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Pennsylvania. "Cushing's is a serious clinical problem that we deal with all the time, maybe the most common endocrine disorder in dogs. Hopefully we'll be able to make some progress in understanding how it works and how we can combat it."

Her advisor, Dr. Robert Kemppainen, one of the country's most noted veterinary endocrinologists, said Behrend's receipt of the highly competitive award "attests to her strengths and achievements as a student and clinician and to the research environ ment in the College.

"Ellen is unique in her dedication and interest in learning basic research techniques which she plans to apply in her future career as a veterinary clinician and scientist," he said.

Cushing's disease is common in miniature poodles, Boston terriers and boxers, but humans can develop a version of it, too, Behrend said. The incidence of Cushing's in dogs is 0.1 percent, about 100 times higher than the incidence in people.

In both species, the victims gain weight. Dogs drink and urinate vast quantities and have a ravenous appetite. Afflicted dogs also tend to lose much of their body hair. For humans, the cause is often a tumor in the pituitary, which is typically surgi cally removed. People with this disease often have significant mood swings.

Behrend's research involves understanding the mechanism for a fundamental process: how the stress hormone cortisol (released from the adrenal gland) acts within the pituitary gland to shut off secretion of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH).

Normally, ACTH released into circulation from the pituitary gland, acts on the adrenals to cause the release of cortisol.

"Cortisol in turn has a wide variety of effects on many tissues, including altering sugar and fat metabolism," Kemppainen said. "It also is important in the normal reaction to stress."

As it circulates, cortisol also turns off ACTH secretion, which leads to lower cortisol production. The body is constantly using this system of stimulation and inhibition to control the proper amount of these hormones in the blood stream.

A goal of their work is to investigate whether this negative feedback system is malfunctioning in diseases involving the pituitary and adrenal.

"Dogs are prone to developing Cushing's disease, usually caused by a small tumor in the pituitary that overproduces ACTH," Kemppainen said. "It is possible that these tumor cells have defects in their response to cortisol, which may contribute to the ir formation."

In humans, some types of depression and alcoholism are associated with abnormally high levels of cortisol in blood, possibly related to a problem with negative feedback control of ACTH.

Behrend, who is pursuing a Ph.D. at Auburn, served a one-year internship at Michigan State University and a three-year residency in small animal internal medicine at Colorado State University before coming to AU. She earlier spent two years in privat e practice. Behrend is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Behrend says her goal is academic veterinary medicine, teaching and conducting research in a clinical setting. She teaches second year veterinary pharmacology labs to AU students.

CONTACT: Behrend or Kemppainen, 844-4425.