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Under the guise of a satellite meeting of the 12th International Congress of Nephrology, Felix Frey (Bern) and John Funder (Melbourne) recently put together a comprehensive meeting in the secluded resort of Appenberg, Switzerland, devoted to the topic of 11 β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD). Every international group working in this area was represented, with presentations and lively discussion from both clinicians and basic scientists in the field.

With the recent characterization and cloning of 5-reductases, 5'deiodinase, and 3β/17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases, emphasis on steroid and thyroid hormone action is moving from abnormalities of secretion to studying tissue metabolism. This is particularly relevant for 11β-HSD and mineralocorticoid/glucocorticoid hormone action. 11β-HSD is responsible for the interconversion of 'active' C₁₁-hydroxylated C₂₁-corticosteroids to their 'inactive' C₁₁-keto derivatives. Although 11β-HSD activity had been described in liver, placenta and kidney in the 1950s, it was not until Drs Ulick and New ascribed a