Endocrine Abstracts

BackgroundPreliminary in vivo studies have shown that fatty acid composition of membranes, where insulin receptors are embedded, can provide significant correlations for insulin resistance. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a member of the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid family present in the membrane that may modulate insulin action. The aim of the study was to investigate if variation in insulin sensitivity is related to variation in DHA in red blood...

Acute critical illness has an effect on normal physiology resulting in changes in the inter-relations of the endocrine system.Evidence suggests that these changes may be due to the pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. interleukin-6 (IL-6)), which are known to have a paradoxical effect on the hypothalamo-pituitary axis, stimulating the adrenal axis, whilst suppressing the remaining axes.Multiple myeloma (MM) patients have elevated IL-6 ...

Introduction: Proinflammatory cytokines, for example interleukin-6, have been found to stimulate the HPA axis at all levels. In animal models glucocorticoids have been shown to suppress cytokines. There may therefore be a balanced interaction during stress when both are raised. For this reason, we investigated patients undergoing routine coronary artery bypass grafting on day 3 post-operatively (CABG) to examine the mechanisms for failure of suppression of the HPA axis in resp...

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between leptin, adiponectin and insulin resistance in a group of men and women with varying degrees of glucose tolerance and obesity.Method69 participants were investigated and divided into four groups: 15 normal weight with normal glucose tolerance (NW NGT); 22 overweight with normal glucose tolerance (OW NGT); 15 overweight with impaired glucose tolerance (OW IGT); and 1...

Aim: To assess usage of newly available rapid-acting insulin analogues in the antenatal diabetes clinic, and to determine whether introduction of these agents has influenced glycaemic control.Methods: We analysed our diabetes antenatal clinic attendances from April 2002 to June 2003 using the DIABETA 3 database. 290 pregnant women were seen over this period which was divided into three groups: Group I (April to September 2002), Group II (October 2002 to ...

Aim: To assess usage of newly available rapid-acting insulin analogues in the antenatal diabetes clinic, and to determine whether introduction of these agents has influenced glycaemic control.Methods: We analysed our diabetes antenatal clinic attendances from April 2002 to June 2003 using the DIABETA 3 database. 290 pregnant women were seen over this period which was divided into three groups: Group I (April to September 2002), Group II (October 2002 to ...