Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Kisspeptin is a critical activator of hypothalamic gonadotrophin-releasing hormone neurons, inducing release of downstream reproductive hormones. Intravenous or subcutaneous kisspeptin administration has been shown to have significant potential to treat reproductive disorders. However, intranasal administration could offer a novel non-invasive delivery route, which would be clinically preferable. We therefore sought to determine the effects of intranasal kisspeptin...

Background: There is emerging evidence that kisspeptin, a hormone with well-established reproductive effects, may also have important metabolic effects. Acute kisspeptin administration enhances insulin secretion under hyperglycaemic conditions in male rodents and men, and kisspeptin receptor agonism improves steatohepatits in male mice in a rodent model of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, the metabolic effects of kisspeptin may exhibit sexual dimorphism as female (b...

Background: Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) is associated with a deficiency of sexual desire with marked distress. It affects up to 8% of men, but has no licensed treatments. The reproductive neuropeptide kisspeptin offers a putative therapeutic target owing to its emerging role in modulating reproductive behaviour in animal models and healthy men. However, there are no studies examining its effects in HSDD. To address this, we performed the first clinical study of ki...

Background: Kisspeptin is a critical activator of hypothalamic GnRH neurons and is essential for reproductive health. Emerging data reveals that kisspeptin-based therapeutics have substantial potential to treat reproductive, psychosexual and bone disorders. However, current delivery is limited to the subcutaneous or intravenous routes, presenting barriers to development. Alternative routes of administration would overcome this and capitalise on the benefits of kisspeptin-based...

Background: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea (FHA) are the two commonest causes of menstrual disturbance in pre-menopausal women. In practice, differentiating these two common reproductive disorders can be challenging. A fundamental abnormality that underpins both conditions is altered gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) pulsatility, being increased in PCOS but reduced in FHA. Likewise, congenital (e.g. congenital hypogonadotropic hyp...

Background: The neuropeptide kisspeptin is a key endogenous activator of the reproductive system. Due to its crucial role in modulating reproductive and behavioural processes, there has been accelerating interest in targeting kisspeptin-pathways to treat reproductive and psychosexual disorders. However, contradictory pre-clinical data from animal models suggests that kisspeptin can have an anxiolytic, anxiogenic or have no effects on anxiety. Given the rapid development of kis...