Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Radioiodine (RAI) is a safe and effective treatment used to treat benign thyroid disease. A review of patients who received RAI in Malta between 2010 and 2018 was carried out to determine their outcome.Methods: Data collection included patient demographics, indication for RAI, amount of RAI doses received, use of antithyroid drugs pre RAI and thyroid function tests (TFTs) at 3, 6 and 12 months post RAI. Cure was defined as euthyroidism or h...

Grave’s orbitopathy typically presents with symptoms of proptosis and diplopia. It is an autoimmune condition of retro-orbital tissues. We present a case in which the management of orbitopathy has been complex and required escalation to immunosuppression and consideration of biological agents. A 34-year-old female presented with 2 weeks of diplopia. She had normal visual acuity with no past medical or family history. She never smoked. Thyroid eye disease was diagnosed, sh...

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are steroid hormones used to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, but their clinical efficacy is hampered by development of side effects such as impaired wound healing. GCs bind the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) to mediate cellular effects. The inactive GR is held in multi-protein complex in the cytoplasm and upon ligand binding undergoes a conformational change, interacts with cytoplasmic enzymes to mediate non-genomic effects (within...

Isoflavones are a subgroup of phytoestrogens and have a chemical structure similar to oestrogen, leading to concerns regarding possible adverse effects of isoflavones in men. Testosterone levels in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are lower.Materials and methods: A randomised double-blind, parallel study was undertaken with 200 men with T2DM, of median age of 50 years (25th/75th centiles; 50, 55) years with a total testosterone level ≤12 nm...

Background: Endothelial damage is one of the early signs of cardiovascular disorders. Assessing endothelial function in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has shown evidence of cardiovascular disease in the absence of clinically evident disorder. Flow mediated dilation (FMD) and reactive hyperaemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT) are the frequently used non-invasive techniques for assessing endothelial function. Both the techniques have been used to assess endo...

Introduction: Patients with acromegaly are frequently left with long-term adverse sequelae. Cross-sectional evaluation of health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) using both generic and specific questionnaires (AcroQoL) has confirmed HR-QoL to be severely impaired in acromegaly. However, long-term HR-QoL outcomes following disease control have been less well-described.Methods: The disease specific questionnaire AcroQoL and three validated generic question...

: In patients with subclinical hypothyroidism, soy protein and isoflavone combination has been shown to increase the risk of developing overt hypothyroidism; however, it is unclear if soy affects thyroid function in those without existing thyroid compromise.Materials and methods: Two double blind randomised trials were undertaken in which thyroid function was performed routinely at the beginning and end as a secondary end point. In both trials soy protei...

Context: Soy phytoestrogens are suggested to have an adverse effect on thyroid function but the contribution to this by soy protein alone when free from isoflavones is unknown.Objective: The primary aim was to determine the effect of isoflavone free soy protein supplementation on thyroid function, with a secondary aim of assessing the effects on cardiovascular risk indices in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism.Design and sett...

Background: Exertional heat illness (EHI) is an incapacitating and sometimes fatal phenomenon. It is associated with elevated core temperature (Tc), cardiovascular instability and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome. EHI-preventive guidelines recommend maintaining Tc ≤38 °C, an important thermoregulatory threshold above which vasomotor compensation plateaus and pronounced excursions in key pituitary and adrenal hormones occur. Copeptin, the C-terminal part o...

Introduction: Patients with acromegaly are frequently left with long-term adverse sequelae. When compared with individuals with other pituitary adenomas, patients with acromegaly demonstrate greater impairment in their quality of life (QoL).Methods: The disease-specific questionnaire, AcroQoL, and the generic psychological general well-being schedule (PGWBS) were used to evaluate QoL in an acromegaly patient cohort. Longitudinal data were also collected ...