Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) treated with bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and total body irradiation (TBI) have increased risk of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and diabetes mellitus (DM). Insulin resistance (IR) has been described, but effects of TBI on pancreatic growth and β-cell function have not been previously reported.Method: Two groups of childhood ALL survivors were studied: Group 1, treat...

Background: GH deficiency is associated with reduction in IQ and neural volumes (globus pallidum and thalamus). Significant relationships between IGF1, IGFBP3 and brain volumes have also been described in children born extremely preterm (total brain volume and cerebellum). No published studies report the relationship between markers of GH status and brain volumes in healthy children.Methods: Cognitive assessment, MRI brain and measurement of IGF1 and IGF...

Background: Low vitamin B12 (B12) during pregnancy is associated with higher maternal obesity, insulin resistance (IR) and gestational diabetes (GDM). However, it is not clear whether these are causally related.Objective: B12 is a key co-factor of the DNA methylation cycle (1-carbon metabolism). We hypothesize that B12 plays a role in epigenetic regulation by altering circulating miRNAs (miRs) during adipocyte differentiation...

Background: Vitamin B12 (B12) deficiency results in disturbance of 1-carbon metabolites [methylmalonyl coenzyme A (MMA), homocysteine and S-adenosyl homocysteine (SAH), S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) and methionine] that collectively affect lipogenesis leading to risk of cardiovascular diseases. In clinical studies, B12 deficiency is associated with higher BMI and dyslipidaemia (high triglycerides and low HDL). The role of B12 in hepatic metabolism of...

Background: Low vitamin B12 (B12) during pregnancy is associated with higher maternal obesity, insulin resistance (IR) and gestational diabetes (GDM). However, it is not clear whether these are causally related.Objective: B12 is a key co-factor of the DNA methylation cycle (1-carbon metabolism). We hypothesize that B12 plays a role in epigenetic regulation by altering circulating miRNAs (miRs) during adipocyte differentiation...

Background: Vitamin B12 (B12) deficiency results in disturbance of 1-carbon metabolites [methylmalonyl coenzyme A (MMA), homocysteine and S-adenosyl homocysteine (SAH), S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) and methionine] that collectively affect lipogenesis leading to risk of cardiovascular diseases. In clinical studies, B12 deficiency is associated with higher BMI and dyslipidaemia (high triglycerides and low HDL). The role of B12 in hepatic metabolism of...

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increases fetal morbidity/mortality, and is associated with elevated risks of offspring cardiometabolic disease. These risks are compounded in infants born large for gestational age (LGA) rather than appropriate size (AGA), a common complication of GDM associated with altered placental function. Circulating extracellular vesicle (EV)-associated miRNAs are internalised into the placenta and are emerging as key GDM mediators, with their role i...

Vitamin B12 (B12) is an essential micronutrient required for several metabolic reactions. Animal and clinical studies show that B12-deficiency is associated with metabolic syndrome. Given the key metabolic role of adipose tissue, we investigated whether B12 deficiency may affect triglyceride synthesis and lipid metabolism leading to adipose tissue inflammation. The AbdSc pre-adipocyte cell line (Chub-S7) and human AbdSc primary pre-adipocytes were differentiated under differen...

Gestational diabetes (GDM) is a form of diabetes that is first diagnosed during pregnancy, complicating 8–24% of all pregnancies. Despite treatment, substantial numbers of babies are born large for gestational age (LGA), predisposing them to cardio-metabolic disease in adulthood. It is difficult to predict which pregnancies are most at risk. The study aimed to determine if circulating maternal serum small extracellular vesicle (sEV) miRNAs have the potential to predict al...

Background: Human cohorts and animal models provide compelling evidence suggesting the role of vitamin B12 in modulating the risk of diabetes and adiposity via developmental programming. We recently demonstrated that neonates born to mothers with low B12 levels in pregnancy have adverse cord blood lipid profile and in vitro studies in human adipocytes with low B12 showed increased cholesterol biosynthesis. Therefore, we hypothesized that vitamin B12 deficiency may pla...