Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Part of the long-term management of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is TSH suppression with supraphysiological doses of levothyroxine. Anecdotal experience suggests that GPs often are not aware of the differences in objectives between treating patients with DTC with suppressive doses of thyroxine and treating patients with primary hypothyroidism, thus leading to inappropriate adjustments of the dose of levothyroxine.Object...

Introduction: The aetiology of Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) is complex and includes genetic and environmental influences. Among potentially controllable risk factors smoking ranks highest. There is strong evidence that smoking cessation benefits patients with GO. The success of secondary prevention strategies depends largely on how the intervention is perceived by patients, especially when it involves lifestyle changes.Objectives: To determine patient p...

Colocalisation of hormones has been demonstrated for growth hormone (GH) and prolactin in the normal adult human pituitary, and for many other hormones in pituitary adenomas. We have investigated whether colocalisation of GH and other hormones occurs earlier, during onto-genesis. Pituitaries from therapeutically aborted male human fetuses of 15–20 weeks gestational age (with ethical approval) were fixed by immersion in 4% buffered formaldehyde and divided in halves, one o...

Pituitary disorders are relatively uncommon conditions which leave patients feeling isolated and distressed. Acromegaly and Cushing’s are associated with obvious and visible differences to appearance, while other pituitary conditions are associated with profound, yet hidden, physical changes which impact significantly on psychological well being.AimTo explore the subjective experiences of patients living with and managing a pi...

ObjectiveThis explorative study is concerned with assessing the psychosocial impact of living with a pituitary condition. In collaboration with the Pituitary Foundation, who work to understand and represent the experiences of patients, this study explored the psychosocial issues that are evident for and identified by patients with a pituitary condition (anxiety, depression and appearance related distress).Method<p class="abstex...

Annexin A1 (AnxA1) acts as a mediator of glucocorticoid (GC) actions in neuroendocrine systems. In the anterior pituitary Anx-1 is expressed mainly by folliculostellate (FS) cells and mediates the early-delayed feedback inhibition exerted by GCs on release of ACTH and other pituitary hormones. GC cause the externalization of AnxA1. The stress responsiveness of the female rat hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal system varies with the estrous cycle, with increased CORT release in resp...

Colocalisation of hormones in the adult human pituitary has been demonstrated only for growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PL) and only for adenomatous tissue. We have investigated whether colocalization occurs earlier in ontogenesis. Pituitaries from male human fetuses of 16–22 weeks gestational age fixed by immersion in 4% buffered formaldehyde and embedded in LR Gold were processed for immunocytochemical double labelling with GH/FSH or GH/LH anti-rat and anti-human prim...

A provisional diagnosis of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation with normal blood pressure and echocardiogram was made in a 58 years old man. He described ‘funny turns’ on standing during which he would become sweaty, tremulous with palpitations and headache and facial flushing preceded by pallor. The patient was otherwise fit and healthy with a BMI of 27.3 kg/m2; he used to drink about 15 pints of beer per week and smoke 11 cigarettes daily for the last 40 year...

Annexin 1 (ANXA1) is a member of the annexin family of phospholipid- and calcium- binding proteins with a well-demonstrated role in the inhibitory actions of glucocorticoids on the release of ACTH, TSH, GH and PRL from the anterior pituitary. Consistent with these findings plasma PRL content is raised in male ANXA1 null mice vs wild-type controls (Cover et al Endocrine Abstracts 8, P69). Here we test the hypothesis that because ANXA1 mediates some of the inhibitory actions of ...

Objective: To describe the mortality and vascular morbidity in patients after treatment for hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.Method: We constructed an electronic database using record linkage of a community thyroid follow-up register, radioiodine database, regional biochemistry, regional prescribing database, hospital admissions and regional death certification. This was made possible by a unique patient identifier used locally for all healthcare episo...