Endocrine Abstracts

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) has emerged in youth, disproportionately affecting ethnic minorities. Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY) has been reported in exclusively white UK children. We report the first UK Asian children with MODY, highlighting differences from T2DM.Child 1 is a slim (BMI SDS−0.14) female of Indian descent without acanthosis nigricans (AN). She presented aged 12 years with polydipsia and polyuria (HbA1c 8.6%). Hypoglycaemia w...

Background: Sex-steroid feedback regulates gonadotropin (LH and FSH) secretion. Kisspeptin, a novel hypothalamic neuropeptide, stimulates gonadotropin secretion by stimulating GnRH secretion, and has been shown in animal models to play a central role in mediating sex steroid feedback.Hypothesis: As estrogen feedback occurs at both the hypothalamus and the pituitary in women, we hypothesized that the stimulatory effect of kisspeptin-10 would be dependent ...

We report a falsely elevated blood spot thyrotrophin (TSH) concentration caused by a TSH-IgG complex. A routine blood spot screen returned a whole blood TSH of 213 mU/l from a one week-old neonate using the Wallac DELFIA method. Measurement in serum confirmed elevated TSH (826 mU/l, Roche Elecsys assay) but free thyroxine (17.2 pmol/l) was normal. The baby’s mother was clinically euthyroid but also showed discordant high serum TSH (287 mU/l) with normal free thyroxine (13...

A 16-year-old boy was referred to our endocrine unit. He had been diagnosed with constitutional short stature (height <10th centile) aged 11, having not grown well for two years. At that time there were no features to suggest Cushing's syndrome (CS), though he was overweight (BMI 22kg/m2, >90th centile) and bone age was delayed by 2 years. A trial of growth hormone (GH) therapy did not increase growth velocity. By age 15, he was developin...

Metyrapone is a potent inhibitor of the conversion of 11-deoxycortisol (11-DOC) to cortisol and is used in the treatment of Cushing's syndrome. This study has assessed the clinical significance of 11-DOC cross-reaction in five serum cortisol assays provided on automated immunoassay analysers. Cross-reaction was determined from the linear regression of increase in measured cortisol against increasing levels of 11-DOC (0, 1590, 4310, 6490, 7040 nmol/L) added to a serum pool. In ...