Endocrine Abstracts

Autosomal dominant hypoparathyroidism (ADH) is caused by gain-of-function mutations in the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR), increasing its sensitivity to extracellular calcium, suppressing PTH and resulting in hypocalcaemia. In contrast to idiopathic hypoparathyroidism, treatment to correct serum calcium results in high urine calcium excretion, causing nephrocalcinosis, stones and renal impairment. Unlike surgical hypoparathyroidism where calcium should be maintained, patients...

Background: Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) and Antral Follicle Count (AFC) are both principally used as markers of ovarian reserve and available in all UK hospitals. The utility of these markers in the binary diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) by published criteria, such as Rotterdam, has been previously reported. We evaluated their utility in the evaluation of oligo/amenorrhoea in healthy young non-obese women.Methods: Women with both ov...

Introduction: Macroprolactin is a physiologically inactive form of prolactin, usually composed of a prolactin monomer and an IgG or anti-prolactin antibody molecule. Whilst clinically non-reactive, it interferes with immunological assays used for prolactin detection. It is identified by polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation, and levels of macroprolactin are generally believed to remain stable over time.Case: We present the case of a 36-year-old gentlem...

Background: Kisspeptin stimulates hypothalamic GnRH secretion resulting in gonadotrophin release and has the potential as a future therapeutic for infertility. Previous studies have observed that kisspeptin increases LH and to a lesser degree FSH when administered to healthy women, which may limit its therapeutic potential. However, studies in women with hypothalamic amenorrhoea show that i.v. infusions of kisspeptin-54 stimulated both LH and FSH equally. Chronic s.c. infusion...

Background: Kisspeptin is an RF amide peptide hormone critical for reproductive function. Kisspeptin is also abundantly expressed in the placenta, where it has an important physiological role in regulating placental invasion. Accordingly, plasma kisspeptin levels rise dramatically during normal pregnancy. Lower plasma levels of kisspeptin are associated with poor pregnancy outcomes such as recurrent miscarriage, intrauterine growth restriction and pre-eclampsia. Urinary measur...

A decade ago, genetic disruption of the kisspeptin signalling pathway was observed to cause hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. Hypothalamic kisspeptin acts by stimulating secretion of endogenous GnRH. Our research has investigated the physiological effects of kisspeptin in women, with the overarching aim of determining if kisspeptin could be used to treat women with infertility.We initially observed that s.c. bolus injection of kisspeptin acutely stimulated...

Background: Kisspeptin is an RF amide peptide hormone critical for reproductive function. Kisspeptin is also abundantly expressed in the placenta, where it has an important physiological role in regulating placental invasion. Accordingly, plasma kisspeptin levels rise dramatically during normal pregnancy. Lower plasma levels of kisspeptin are associated with poor pregnancy outcomes such as recurrent miscarriage, intrauterine growth restriction and pre-eclampsia. Urinary measur...

Background: It is apparent that COVID-19 may cause persistent symptoms beyond 12 weeks (‘long COVID’). However its underlying pathophysiology is unclear. Several symptoms of long COVID draw similarities to that of endocrine diagnoses. We recently observed that adrenal and thyroid function were normal in survivors of COVID-19 at follow-up. Here we assess additional endocrine axes that could plausibly have a role in long COVID to determine their relationship to ongoing...

Introduction: Free ionised calcium is the biologically active component of total circulating calcium but is infrequently measured due to sampling requirements. Therefore, total calcium is ‘adjusted’ for albumin to provide a closer estimate of the biologically active ionised calcium level (e.g. James, Orell, Payne and Berry formulae). Here, we aim to derive a novel equation to estimate ionised calcium from readily available biochemical parameters and compare its perfo...

Background: Due to practical limitations, the diagnosis of hypogonadism is predominantly based on a single measure of reproductive hormones, often with confirmation on a second occasion. Factors associated with reproductive hormone variation include: pulsatile secretion, diurnal rhythm, and food intake, which can affect the accuracy of diagnosis of reproductive disorders. There is limited data quantitatively estimating the variability of reproductive hormone levels over the da...