A recent paper (Bouligand et al., PLoS One. 2010 22:5:e13563), proposes that glucocorticoid receptor haploinsufficiency compromises glucocorticoid sensitivity and may represent a novel genetic cause of subclinical hypercortisolism. How do the results of this paper impact on the understanding of this disease? Here, NR3C1 is linked to adrenal gland hyperfunction.