Endocrine Abstracts

Numerous epidemiological studies worldwide have shown a strong association between low birth weight and an increased risk of developing cardiometabolic disease, including hypertension. Excessive fetal exposure to glucocorticoids has been hypothesised to mediate this relationship. Here, we have used an established rodent model – in which dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid that readily crosses the placenta, is administered to pregnant Wistar rats during the last trim...

Fatty liver disease is strongly associated with insulin resistance. In order to elucidate the causality of this complex relationship, we studied insulin resistance in a rodent model of fatty liver disease – the choline deficient diet (CDD) – in which fatty liver occurs without generalised obesity. C57Bl/6 mice were fed a low fat (10% calories as fat, ‘Lo’) or isocaloric high fat diet (45% calories as fat, ‘Hi’) for 3 weeks; then half of the animal...

Objective:The activity of hepatic enzymes that metabolise glucocorticoids is altered in the setting of the metabolic syndrome. Westerbacka et al suggested a specific association between fatty liver and increased 5beta-reductase enzyme activity (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2003). We hypothesised that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is strongly associated with insulin resistance, may be primarily responsible for these changes.<p cla...