Endocrine Abstracts

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare endocrine malignancy with an unfavorable prognosis. Despite the poor prognosis in the majority of patients, no improvements in treatment strategies have been achieved. Therefore, the discovery of new prognostic biomarkers is of enormous interest. Sterol-O-acyl transferase 1 (SOAT1) is involved in cholesterol esterification and lipid droplet formation. Recently, it was demonstrated that SOAT1 inhibition leads to impaired steroidogenesis ...

Background: Mitotane,(o,p’-DDD)is a compound with potent adrenotoxic effect and is able to block cortisol synthesis by inhibiting 11β-hydroxylation and cholesterol chain cleavage. For these reasons, mitotane was widely used in the treatment of adrenocortical cancer. Nevertheless the biological mechanism induced by these treatments in this cancer cells remain unknown.Aim: To study whether the o,p’-DDD could increase the susceptibility to th...

Recent acute in vivo studies have shown that structural modifications of dogfish glucagon improves peptide stability and these analogues can act as dual agonists at both glucagon and GLP-1 receptors. Here, we compared the effects of chronic (51 days) twice daily administration of [D-Ala2]dogfish glucagon (Pep-N) and [D-Ala2]dogfish glucagon-exendin-4(31–39) construct (Pep-C), exendin-4(1–39) or saline treat...

Ghrelin was isolated from stomach by its ability to stimulate growth hormone (GH) release through the GH-secretagogue receptor (GHS-R1a). However, ghrelin/GHS-R expression in multiple tissues and tumor types suggested additional roles for this tandem. Ghrelin, a 28-aminoacid peptide, requires a unique O-acylation at its Ser-3 residue to bind GHS-R1a and release GH. Conversely, unacylated ghrelin (UAG), initially considered inactive, seems to play distinct metabolic role...

IntroductionLeukocyte recruitment is a key feature in (I/R)-induced tissue injury. We have developed and validated a novel method to study molecular mechanisms of leukocyte-endothelium interactions in the colonic microcirculation in vivo by use of inverted intravital fluorescence microscopy.Methods & ResultsIn male C57/BL6 mice the superior mesenteric artery was occluded 30 min and leukocyte rolling and ...

Growth hormone (GH) is thought to have a dual effect (direct and indirect) on bone metabolism. We sought to explore the inter-relationships and potential determinant factors of several markers of bone turnover in GH deficient adults (GHD), as well as possible acute changes arising from GH.24 GHD subjects [14 M, 10F; age (range, 24-74 yrs)] were studied after consent and ethical approval. They were randomised into three groups (GP) of 8 subjects, each to ...

M O Thorner, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA AbstractMichael O. Thorner is David C. Harrison Teaching Professor of Internal Medicine. He previously was Kenneth R. Cripsell Professor, Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Director of the General Clinical Research Center and Henry B Mulholland Professor and Chair, Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia. He is a fellow of the A...

Introduction: O,p’DDD is the drug of choice for patients with adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). Monitoring o,p’DDD serum level has been proposed as predictor of tumour response. Measurement of o,p’DDD metabolites involved in the active pathway may provide an improved prediction of o,p’DDD activity. The objective of our study was to (1)to confirm the currently used threshold o,p’DDD serum level of 14mg/l for achieving a tumour response and (2)compare the ...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause of anovulatory infertility. Although the cause of the anovulation is unknown there are a number of endocrine candidates; hyperinsulinaemia, raised steroid production and increased levels of the sexual differentiative factor anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). The latter is increasingly thought to be an inhibitor of folliculogenesis. Hyperinsulinaemia in PCOS is now widely treated with metformin and we have shown that thi...

Despite the known health hazards of cigarette smoking, many smokers fail to quit smoking, mainly due to nicotine’s addictiveness, but also because of fear from gaining weight. However, the mechanism of weight gain after smoking cessation is not fully elucidated yet.Healthy long-term smokers (28±2 years, 10F/20M, 23.4±1.3 kg/m2) participating in a smoking cessation programme underwent 3-hour oral glucose tolerance tests (oGTT) an...