Endocrine Abstracts

John Connell, MRC Blood Pressure Group, Glasgow, UK AbstractJohn Connell graduated in medicine from Glasgow in 1977. After initial training in endocrinology, he was appointed as a Clinical Scientist to the MRC Blood Pressure Unit, Western infirmary, Glasgow in 1983. He held an MRC Travelling Fellowship in the Howard Florey Institute for Experimental Physiology and Medicine from 1987, working with Professor John Coghlan...

J Connell, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom Abstract John Connell graduated in medicine from the University of Glasgow (with commendation) in 1977. After initial general medical training he was appointed Registrar in Endocrinology in the Western Infirmary, Glasgow; in 1983 he became Clinical Scientist within the MRC Blood Pressure Unit and Senior Registrar in Endocrinology. In 1986 he was awarded a ...

Background: Increased levels of cortisol are associated with worse prognosis in heart failure (HF). The final step in cortisol production is catalysed by 11β-hydroxylase encoded by CYP11B1, which is highly homologous with CYP11B2. A common polymorphism in the aldosterone synthase gene (CYP11B2 −344T) is associated with a raised ratio of 11-deoxycortisol/ cortisol (S/F). We examined the relationship between −344C/T polymorphism and corticos...

Aim: To assess whether adults in Scotland currently receiving growth hormone (GH) meet the NICE criteria for starting and continuing GH replacement.Methods: We surveyed all endocrinologists in Scotland and identified the main centres using GH replacement. A cross-sectional case note review was carried out of all patients commenced on GH.Results: About 208 patients (51% women; 24% professionals, 90% Caucasian) were identified, 69 of...

Introduction: In addition to the medication prescribed by their doctors, patients may recourse to natural medicine and take herbal medications without thinking about their potential side effects and interactions with other drugs.Case Report: A 39-year-old female, with personal history of iron deficiency anemia, regular menses but long-standing dysmenorrhea and polymenorrhea and reactive anxiety-depressive disorder, complained of frequent intermenstrual s...

Aldosterone has assumed increasing importance as a major cardiovascular risk factor. This is illustrated by the positive correlation between plasma aldosterone levels and blood pressure in a number of large population surveys, and the finding that approximately 10% of patients with high blood pressure have inappropriate aldosterone levels in relation to renin, consistent with primary aldosteronism. Evidence also supports the notion that aldosterone exerts particularly deleteri...

Primary aldosteronism is the most common secondary cause of hypertension. Less than 50% of patients with the disorder have a solitary aldosterone producing adenoma. In the most common presentation, patients present with bilateral hyper-secretion of aldosterone. The aetiology of this is uncertain. Studies within our own group have suggested that there is an underlying genetic predisposition to develop hypertension with a raised aldosterone to renin ratio (ARR) associated with v...

Aldosterone has important effects on blood pressure regulation and electrolyte haemostasis: recent data from Framingham confirm that plasma levels of the hormone predict subsequent development of hypertension in young adults, while our own data show that plasma aldosterone correlates with blood pressure in older subjects, and is inversely associated with birth weight. It is clear, therefore, that long-term regulation of aldosterone is important in setting blood pressure levels...

Introduction/Aim: New oral anticoagulant drugs such as the factor Xa inhibitor rivaroxaban are often preferred to the classic coumarins because they do not need frequent blood-test monitoring and have fever interactions with other drugs and foodstuffs. They are not, however, interaction free. Rivaroxaban is metabolized by oxidative degradation catalyzed by CYP3A4/5 and CYP2J2; it is also a substrate of the P-gp and ABCG2 efflux transporter proteins. CYP3A4 activity enhancers s...

The GIRFT (Getting It Right First Time) visits, about which we have consulted the membership of the Society for Endocrinology and had positive feedback from many members, have now started. We have done four pilots in Birmingham, Leicester, Oxford and York. The objectives are to try to introduce a quantitative approach to help demonstrate best practice. It will explore surgical outcome data and complication rates with regard to thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pituitary and neuro...