Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: In patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) international consensus claim that adrenal venous sampling (AVS) performs better than CT scan in determining lateralization of aldosterone secretion. The SPARTACUS study has however reported similar performances for lateralization by CT scan and AVS in patients with PA and a unilateral adrenal mass. The standard procedure for AVS uses cortisol values to validate the selectivity of catheterization and to normalize the al...

In recent years, great attention has been given to the pleiotropic effect of vitamin D, a vitamin well known from its role in bone and calcium homeostasis. Also in the immune system, modulating effects by vitamin D have been described. Receptors for vitamin D are present in cells throughout the immune system and a central role for the antigen presenting dendritic cell and the macrophage in the effect of vitamin D in the immune system is described. The latter cells not only car...

Vitamin D has become an important player beyond bone and calcium metabolism. Receptors for 1,25(OH)2D3 or calcitriol as well as the machinery to produce 1,25(OH)2D3 locally are present all over the immune system. Regulation of the enzyme responsible for the final activation of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (CYP27B1) is however completely different in immune cells than in kidney cells. Particular immunomodulating effects of 1,25(OH)2<...

1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] exerts its effects via the vitamin D receptor (VDR) that belongs to the steroid/thyroid hormone receptor superfamily leading to gene regulation mediating various biological responses. Within the last two decades, the receptor has been shown to be present not only in classical target tissues such as bone, kidney and intestine but also in many other non-classical tissues, e.g., in the immune system, in the reproductive system, in the...

Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate the value of a TRH stimulation test to assess the risk of permanent central hypothyroidism after transsphenoidal pituitary surgery.Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed, evaluating the results of a routinely performed TRH stimulation test executed in the first 2 weeks after transsphenoidal pituitary surgery in patients admitted to the Ghent University Hospital between 1/1/2010 and 31/12/201...

The measurement of 25OH vitamin D has tremendously evolved since the first competitive protein-binding assay. Amongst the different techniques that are now routinely employed, ELISA still represents a common tool to quantify the level of 25OH Vitamin D in individuals. Several 25OH Vitamin D ELISA assays have been developed and commercialized in the last 3 years. They all differ by the antibody used and by the technology that is applied to release 25OH Vitamin D from its bindin...

Background and aims: The prevalence of gestational diabetes (GDM) increases worldwide with rates between 9 and 35%. The management of GDM is a labor-intensive discipline, in which the global increase in GDM prevalence poses challenges to maintain high-quality care. A valuable solution could be the organization of group education. The ELENA study therefore aimed to evaluate women’s satisfaction about (group) education and treatment, their knowledge about GDM and whether th...

Background: SGLT2i have shown promising results as an adjunct therapy in T1DM, resulting in better glucose control, weight loss and lower blood pressure. No increase in hypoglycemia risk, in particular severe hypoglycemia, was observed, but, an mild increased risk of (euglycemic) diabetic DKA was reported (Van den Mooter L. et al. Exp Opinion Pharm 2018).Case report: A 49-year-old Caucasian female nurse with underlying type 1 diabetes was admitt...

Cadaveric islet transplantation can cure diabetes, however scarcity of donor islets means that this approach cannot be used for large-scale treatment. An alternative source of insulin-producing β-cells or whole islets would be step-wise in vitro differentiation from either human embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells, which could be transplanted directly into patients. However, ‘β-like’ cells generated from existing differentiation ...

Aim: It is common practice to administer peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) at fixed injected activity (IA) per cycle. This results in highly variable radiation doses to critical organs and undertreatment of most patients. We conceived a personalized PRRT (P-PRRT) system enabling delivery of a prescribed dose to the kidney over four cycles. Our goal was to assess the potential of P-PRRT to safely increase radiation dose rate to tumors, by performing a simulation in a...