Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a common endocrine disorder that is characterized by hypercalcemia and elevated or normal levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Most PHPT cases are incidentally discovered when routine laboratory analysis reveals hypercalcemia. PHPT should be considered in any person with elevated serum calcium (Ca) levels and no clear evidence of malignancy. Serum phosphorus (P) is low due to the phosphaturic effects of PTH and mostly in the ...

Background: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is the third most common endocrine disorder. The Ca/P ratio is an accurate tool to differentiate patients with PHPT (>3.5 if Ca and P are expressed in mg/dl) from healthy subjects [1]. The reliability of this index is based on the fact that serum Ca and P are inversely related together. However, other disorders of the Ca-P metabolism, such as hypophosphoremia (HypoP), might impair the Ca/P ratio.Aim: To ...

CATSPER is a family of sperm-specific calcium channels activated by P in human spermatozoa (Lishko et al. 2011, Strunker et al. 2011). KO mice for CATSPER are infertile due to severe defects in sperm motility.We studied the involvement of CATSPER in human sperm motility and P responsiveness.Western blot analysis with an anti-CATSPER1 antibody demonstrated the presence of three major bands corresponding to CATSPER1...

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was discovered by Robert Robison, PhD in London in 1923. In New York in 1932, he added to his hypothesis that ALP functioned in skeletal calcification by liberating inorganic phosphate (Pi) for hydroxyapatite crystal formation, perhaps from a hexosephosphoric ester, some unknown factor also conditioning this process. In 1948 in Toronto, Canada, ‘hypophosphatasia’ (HPP) was coined by John C. Rathbun, MD to describe a unique rickets without r...

Background: A 73-year-old female presented to the hospital with a 3-day history of right upper quadrant abdominal pain and episodes of vomiting. Her past medical history included insulin treated Type 2 diabetes diabetes, deep venous thrombosis for which she was on rivaroxaban, COPD, right leg angioplasty and previous p-ANCA vasculitis. She also had flank tenderness and was noted to be hypertensive with a blood pressure of 225/93mmHg. A CT scan of the abdomen identified a new 4...

Case History: X-linked hypophosphataemia (XLH) manifests as rickets in infancy or childhood, and is caused by mutations of the phosphate-regulating neutral endopeptidase (PHEX) gene, which leads to excess production of the fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23) hormone. We present a case illustrating that mutation of PHEX can also cause hypophosphataemia presenting in adulthood. The proband is a 56-year-old male, who was referred with persistent hypophosphataem...

Background: Selenoproteins are playing an important role in body homeostasis and development. They control thyroid hormone metabolism and are of prime importance for intracellular redox regulation and cellular defence. The SePP knockout mouse (SePP-KO) is a model of impaired Se metabolism characterized by a disrupted distribution system for organified Se. One of the major phenotypes of the homozygote SePP-KO mice is a reduced increase in size and weight during the growth spurt...

In rodents synthetic glucocorticoids such as e.g. dexamethasone poorly penetrate the blood brain barrier because of multidrug resistance P-glycoprotein (mdr-Pgp). Also cortisol, not naturally occurring in rats and mice, is hampered in uptake. The evidence for this role of the efflux transporter was substantiated with the mdr1a knock out mice. 3H- cortisol and 3H-dexamethasone administered to the mdr1a mutants did label brain targets that retained the ster...

The secretion of prolactin is sexually dimorphic and sensitive to changes in gonadal steroid and glucocorticoid status. Reports that the regulatory effects of glucocorticoids on prolactin release are mediated in part via annexin I (ANXA1, 1), have led us to compare prolactin secretion in ANXA1 knockout (KO) and wildtype (WT) mice and to determine the effects ovariectomy and oestrogen replacement (80 nanograms/0.1 ml, s.c./day) on (a) the plasma prolactin concentration (radioim...

Objectives: Reducing length of inpatient stay following trans-sphenoidal pituitary adenectomy (TSA) could create significant financial saving for the NHS. We assessed early complication rates post-TSA to determine feasibility of early hospital discharge (3 days) post-TSA.Methods: We identified retrospectively 60 patients who underwent TSA at the John Radcliffe Hospital. These consisted of patients with a pre-operative confirmed diagnosis of non-functioni...