Adrenal Cortex

BIOGRAPHY

Scott MacKenzie is an Associate Faculty Member who works with Eleanor Davies to evaluate the literature relevant to their research interests.

ACADEMIC POSITION:
Lecturer (Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences)

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Our group’s core research investigates the production of the steroid hormones aldosterone and cortisol by the cortex of the adrenal gland. In particular, we wish to understand how genetic variation between individuals influences the regulation of these steroids’ production and how this results in high blood pressure. To this end, I have contributed to several large-scale genetic studies involving our main genes of interest, aldosterone synthase and 11beta-hydroxylase. I am currently investigating whether polymorphisms in the 11beta-hydroxylase gene result in its reduced expression.

As well as contributing to our group’s core studies of adrenocortical steroid production, many of my studies have examined the emerging area of extra-adrenal steroidogenesis, whereby tissues such as the brain and adipose tissue appear capable of producing low levels of aldosterone and cortisol. I have detected the aldosterone synthase and 11beta-hydroxylase enzymes within brain tissue and demonstrated that their genes can be regulated within the brain independently of the adrenal gland. Current studies are investigating a link between cortisol production within the brain and Alzheimer’s disease. Other ongoing research includes the study of these genes’ production within heart tissue and fat tissue, in an attempt to better understand the processes underlying heart disease and obesity.

I have productive research projects with a number of national and international collaborators, including Dr Trevor Bushell at Strathclyde University, Professor Jonathan Seckl at Edinburgh University and Professor Celso Gomez-Sanchez at the University of Mississippi.