Endocrine Abstracts

Growth hormone (GH) and insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-I) modulate and stimulate angiogenesis and endothelial function. Excess of GH, as in acromegaly, is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, which is reversible after normalization of IGF-I and GH. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common comorbidity in acromegaly, but the prevalence of diabetes retinopathy in patients with acromegaly is unknown. Also, the roles of GH and IGF-I in diabetes retinopathy are not f...

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) may directly dissipate energy into heat and is associlated with a metabolically favorable phenotype. Cold exposure activates BAT via the sympathetic nervous system and its transmitter norepinephrine. In rodents, the activation is facilitated by the β3-adrenoreceptor (β3-AR). In humans treatment with the β3-AR agonist mirabegon leads to a rather weak activation of BAT as compared to a cold stimulus. In vitro studies in cell lines from h...