Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Recent advances in medicine have allowed a considerably decrease in mortality after traumatic brain injury (TBI) with the consequent increment in the number of subjects with physical, psychological and cognitive sequelas which means an important worsening of quality of life as well as difficulties in social and labour integration. Considering that many of the symptoms classically attributed to the TBI (memory impairment, concentration impairment, fatigue, social ...

A 36-year-old woman in follow-up due to early ovarian failure of idiopathic origin. No family history of interest. History of menarche at 12 years of age with regular menses until 18 years of age, when it begins with amenorrheic spells lasting up to 8 months. Laboratory tests revealed hypergonadotropic hypogonadism with negative ovarian autoantibodies, normal karyotype, and gynecological ultrasound showing a normal-looking uterus with slight bilateral ovarian atrophy. Negative...

Somatostatin (SST) and cortistatin (CORT) are two highly related neuropeptides involved in the regulation of several endocrine secretions. In particular, SST and CORT are two primary negative regulators of GH secretion. Consequently, SST or CORT knockout (KO) mice exhibit elevated GH levels; however, this does not lead to increased IGF-I levels or somatic growth, which has been suggested that could be due to a compensatory mechanism between both peptides. In order to test this...

Cyclophosphamide is an alkylating agent used in the treatment of malignant and autoimmune diseases. Severe hyponatraemia is a serious electrolyte disorder with life threatening neurological sequelae. We report a case of recurrent severe, symptomatic hyponatraemia that developed in a 61 year old female with systemic vasculitis and Sjogrens syndrome following low-dose cyclophosphamide.Case report: A 61 year old lady, with ANA positive systemic vasculitis p...

Introduction: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an inducible enzyme in prostaglandin synthesis, plays a major role in the pathogenesis of sporadic colorectal carcinoma (CRC). COX-2 inhibitors reduce the mortality from sporadic CRC. Acromegaly is associated with an increased risk of CRC, with a preponderance of right sided disease, but COX-2 protein is reduced or absent in acromegalic normal and malignant colonic mucosa. The mechanisms responsible for this are unknown.Aims: (i) To ...

Introduction and aim: Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion via insulin pump is the most efficient way of imitating physiological insulin secretion, and it also provides better management of diabetes, lower rate of hypoglicemic episodes, better quality of life and prevention of long-term complications of diabetes mellitus. Aim of the research was to determine effects of subcutaneous insulin infusion therapy on parameters of glycoregulation during the two years trial.<p ...

Background: Infants born small for gestational age (SGA) usually show catch-up growth during the first few years of post-natal life. However, some infants remain small and little is known about the factors governing their growth failure. IGF-I receptor mutations account for a minority of cases therefore we have initiated an assessment of signalling molecules downstream of the receptor.Method: Skin biopsies were obtained with local ethics approval from he...

Introduction: After progression on conventional treatment options, some patients with advanced ACC are offered experimental Phase I therapies. The outcomes of these patients have not yet been formally evaluated. This study aims to describe the experience of refractory ACC patients treated on Phase I clinical trials at the RMH.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of metastatic ACC patients consecutively treated in our Drug Development Unit bet...

Background: Obesity represents a cardiovascular risk factor. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a known regulator of monocyte recruitment to sites of inflammation, and participates at the early phases of atherogenesis. Apolipoproteins, as part of the lipoprotein particles, are classically coupled with cardiovascular risk distinction.Aims: To assess the association of anthropometric parameters, insulin resistance and MCP-1 levels with classic l...

We report the case of a Caucasian woman presenting with a challenging differential diagnosis of ophtalmopathy. The patient was diagnosed with Graves’ disease during postpartum at the age of 28 (TSH<0.001 U/ml; FT3 6.7 ng/dl; FT4 2.2 ng/dl; TSAb 15 U/l). Besides 16 pack-year smoking history, no other previous disease was known. At examination, exophthalmos grade I/III with bilateral lid retraction was evident. Persistency of the disease despite optimal use of medical a...