Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Although type 1 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes in children, with the steady increase in type 2 and rare forms of diabetes, it may be sometimes difficult to ascertain the type of diabetes at the time of presentation. Some children present with a combination of features and do not fit into one of the classical types of diabetes. The rapid progress in the molecular genetics has helped to identify the specific diagnosis for these rare forms of diabetes....

Insulin oedema is uncommon and poorly understood. It has been reported mainly in the adult literature. We present one of the youngest cases reported in the literature.A previously obese 9-year-old boy gradually lost weight over 18-month period and experienced polyuria and polydipsia for several months. He presented in diabetic ketoacidosis (blood glucose 24 mmol/l, pH 7.13, bicarbonate 6.6 mmol/l, potassium 3.13 mmol/l, urinary ketones 3+) which resp...

Most children with diabetes are insulin deficient (type 1). We have reported type 2 diabetes in children, defined by evidence of insulin resistance, but the prevalence and characteristics in UK children is unknown. We aimed to characterise and determine the prevalence of non-type 1 diabetes in the UK. The British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Clinical Trials unit undertook a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of all paediatric diabetes centres during 2000...

Sporadic pituitary tumours are generally benign tumours in which the none of the oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes classically mutated in other cancers are commonly mutated, nor are there frequent changes in genes associated with genetic endocrine neoplasia syndromes. Such tumours are associated with excessive but not completely unregulated proliferation, implicating a possible abnormality in a cell signalling pathway in their pathogenesis. Recently, the serine/threonine ki...

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS)is important for the regulation of blood pressure with its blockade shown to reduce the vascular complications of diabetes. Adipose tissue expresses the RAS system and may contribute to obesity associated hypertension. Our previous in vitro studies have demonstrated that in human adipose tissue production of both angiotensinogen (AGT) and the active metabolite angiotensin II are stimulated by insulin. The present study investigated the ...

Human obesity is characterised by an increase in both the number of adipocytes and by an increase in their size, which is determined by adipogenesis. Adipogenesis can be induced in vitro in preadipocytes cultured in differentiation medium containing 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, insulin, dexamethasone, and triiodothyronine but the signalling pathways important in adipogenesis are not well characterised. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathway i...

The adrenal cortex produces aldosterone, cortisol and adrenal androgens. ACTH regulates the production of both cortisol and adrenal androgens. However there are physiological and pathophysiological conditions where the production of these steroids is divergent. We examined the effect angiotension II (A-II) and insulin on the relative production of cortisol and adrenal androgens in the human adrenal H-295 cell line. We determined the ability of these secretogogues to regulate t...

The adrenal cortex produces aldosterone, cortisol and adrenal androgens in response to secretogogues including ACTH, angiotensin II(A-II) and insulin. Differential regulation of adrenal steroids is through the modulation of specific key steroidogenic enzymes. The capacity of the adrenal to produce cortisol is controlled in part by the transcription of 3beta-hydroxysteroiddehydrogenase (3beta HSD) and production of adrenal androgens by 17 hydroxylase/17-20 lyase (CYP17). Protei...

Perinatal glucocorticoid (GC) treatment accelerates lung maturation but may compromise health in adulthood, possibly via changes in hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal (HPA) activity. This study used western blot analysis and a well established in vitro method to investigate the effects of perinatal GC treatment on the expression and function of annexin 1 (ANXA1), a 37kDa protein which mediates facets of GC action in the neuroendocrine and host defence systems. Male rats were treate...

Neonatal salt wasting can present in neonates with a life-threatening state of hyponatraemia, hyperkalaemia, dehydration and metabolic acidosis. The differential diagnosis of neonatal salt wasting includes congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) most commonly due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency, pseudohypoaldosteronism (PHA), X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenital (AHC) and aldosterone synthase defects. Diagnostic work up should include serum measurement of ACTH, Cortisol, 17OH-prog...