Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Tamoxifen is a partial estrogen agonist used to treat estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. It has been discovered however that resistance to tamoxifen develops in some cancers. In order to investigate the mechanisms underlying the development of resistance we have created a tamoxifen resistant breast cancer cell line.Aims: To develop a breast cancer cell line that is resistant to the anti-growth effects of tamoxifen.<p class="abstext...

Background: Previous studies have implicated the GH/IGF-I axis in the pathogenesis of breast cancer and the development of tamoxifen resistance. IGF-I is a known proliferative and anti-apoptotic agent. In order to characterize the growth changes that occur when elements of the GH/IGF-I axis are disrupted we have used siRNA to transcriptionally silence the IGF-IR in the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line.Methods: MCF-7 cells were cultured in phenol red-f...

IntroductionIncreased cross talk between the IGF-I and oestrogen signalling pathways has been implicated in the development of tamoxifen resistance in breast cancers. We have previously demonstrated IGF-I mRNA to be down-regulated in primary breast cancers. However, the expression of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 in recurrent, tamoxifen-resistant tumours is unknown.MethodsTotal RNA was extracted from 38 paired samples of...

IntroductionIncreased cross talk between the IGF-I and oestrogen signalling pathways has been implicated in the development of tamoxifen resistance in breast cancers. We have previously demonstrated IGF-I mRNA to be down-regulated in primary breast cancers. However, the expression of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 in recurrent, tamoxifen-resistant tumours is unknown.MethodsTotal RNA was extracted from 38 paired samples of primary breast cancers (T) and adjacent normal (N) tissue and from 1...

BackgroundIn addition to inhibiting pituitary GH secretion, somatostatin (SS) and its analogues have been shown to exert anti-proliferative effects on a variety of different cell types. The presence of receptors for SS have been demonstrated in a number of tissues but quantification of mRNA expression of the 5 subtypes of SSTR in the colon is unknown.MethodsTotal RNA was extracted from 9 paired samples of adj...

Background:Recent studies have linked low serum levels of IGFBP-3 with an increased risk of developing breast cancer.In addition to modulating IGF-I bioactivity, IGFBP-3 also exerts IGF-I independent pro-apoptotic effects. Our previous work has demonstrated that IGFBP-3 mRNA expression is significantly down regulated in breast tumours compared to normal breast tissue. It is uncertain, however, how this pattern of expression relates to the pathological and prognostic features o...

Background: The pro-proliferative and anti-apoptotic IGF-I is implicated in the development of colorectal cancer (CRC) in both the general population and patients with acromegaly. The local intracolonic environment is also likely to be important, particularly unconjugated bile acids such as deoxycholic acid (DCA). Whilst low faecal concentrations may be proliferative, high levels are toxic to colonic epithelial cells.High levels of DCA have been linked t...

Background. Recent studies have linked high serum levels of IGF-1 and low levels of IGFBP-3 with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. BP3 has been shown to have IGF-1 independent effects on cell proliferation in breast and prostate cells, but its effects on colon cancer cells is largely unknown. Aims. To determine: 1) the effects of BP-3 on colonic epithelial cell proliferation and apoptosis, and 2) whether any effects are independent of IGF-1. Methods....

Since earlier publications revealed a prominent and versatile impact of the neuromedin peptide family on several neuroendocrine processes, in the present experiments we focused on the effects of a recently discovered member of neuromedines, neuromedine S on such phenomena as open-field behaviour and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activation. The peptide was administered intracerebroventricularly to freely moving rats and 30 minutes later the aforementioned neuronedocrine...

Hypocalcemic cardiomyopathy due to hypoparathyroidism is a very rare condition which responds favorably to vitaminocalcic treatment.We report the case of a 50 years old man who presented to our unit for general fatigue, apathy and cough lasting several years with a worsening during the last months, there was biological evidence of hypoparathyroidism with profound hypocalcemia (21 mg/l) hyperphosphoremia (53 mg/l) and undetectable PTH levels the CT scan s...