Endocrine Abstracts

The optimum management of patients with craniopharyngiomas is controversial. Evidence relies on a small number of retrospective outcome surveys that encompass time periods that are not necessarily representative of current surgical techniques and imaging modalities. We have reviewed outcome in a more contemporary group of patients managed at a single centre.Case-notes and electronic data were reviewed of all patients treated for craniopharyngioma since 1...

Much has been written on the attributes of preoperative localisation and minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) for primary hyperparathyroidism. A recent 'summary statement from a workshop on asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism: a perspective for the 21st century' (Bilezikian et al, 2002) suggested however that in experienced hands, conventional open parathyroidectomy with visualisation of all four glands was still the gold standard. In light of this we have carried o...

It is now evident that ghrelin is more than just a growth hormone (GH) secretagogue; it plays an important role in energy homeostasis, increasing food intake and fat deposition, has cardiovascular effects, and inhibits cell proliferation.Ghrelin mRNA expression is widespread in human tissues, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms and signals that regulate gene expression at the transcriptional level. To address this we cloned and sequenced a 4kb region upstrea...

Ghrelin, the natural ligand for the GHS-R, modulates proliferation in cell lines derived from malignant breast tissue. It has been suggested that this action is independent of the GHS-R. We have previously demonstrated that MCF7 cells expressed ghrelin but not GHS-R mRNA and MDA-MB231 cells expressed GHS-R but not ghrelin mRNA. To determine whether ghrelin modulates proliferation in MCF7 and MDA-MB231 cells we performed proliferation assays treating with saline, 1 and 10nM ghr...

The number of patients treated for malignant disease in childhood surviving into adulthood is increasing, but success is tempered by long-term side-effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy; 40% develop one or more endocrinopathy. ALL is a common childhood malignancy treated with chemotherapy and cranial irradiation. The latter causes anterior pituitary hormone deficiencies, most frequently GH deficiency.We have determined GH status in 13 patients treate...

A 69-year-old non-diabetic woman presented with 1 month of recurrent drowsiness and confusion secondary to hypoglycaemia, nocturnal and on fasting. On admission her CBG was 2.6 mmol/l, confirmed venously. Her history was of a large solitary fibrous tumour (SFT) of the chest wall first resected in 2011 with recurrent relapses requiring surgery in 2016 and 2017. Histology showed typical features of SFT. Despite palliative chemo-radiotherapy for a further relapses, there was prog...

Background: In the UK, adults with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) are treated with recombinant Growth Hormone (GH) therapy according to NICE guidelines (TA64). Provided that patients show an initial improvement in their quality-of-life score, assessed using the Quality-of-Life Assessment of GHD in Adults (Qol-AGHDA) questionnaire, they can continue with their GH treatment long-term. However, in clinical practice, many patients are observed to discontinue GH r...

Background: It has been proposed that menopause has a beneficial effect on the natural history of hyperprolactinaemia attributed to prolactinoma. Nonetheless, series systematically assessing outcome in females with prolactinoma who have passed through menopause are very limited.Aim: To investigate the impact of menopause on prolactinomas in patients not on dopamine agonist (DA) treatment.Patie...

Background: It has been proposed that menopause has a beneficial effect on the natural history of hyperprolactinaemia attributed to prolactinoma. Nonetheless, series systematically assessing outcome in females with prolactinoma who have passed through menopause are very limited.Aim: To investigate the impact of menopause on prolactinomas in patients not on dopamine agonist (DA) treatment.Patie...

Introduction: In adults, treatment of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) with daily recombinant human growth hormone (GH) injections has shown to improve many clinical features associated with GHD. Currently, many adults with GHD receive GH indefinitely, even when they fail to report any obvious benefits from this treatment. Additionally, evidence on the impact of discontinuing long-term GH therapy is limited. We conducted a survey of UK endocrine clinicians (doctors and speciali...