Endocrine Abstracts

Fetal growth restriction is associated with abnormal placental cell (cytotrophoblast) proliferation. Using an explant model of human first trimester placenta, we have demonstrated that the IGFI and -II stimulate proliferation in cytotrophoblast and are probably essential for normal placental growth. IGF activates signalling through both Akt and ERK, so the regulation of these pathways in placenta is important for normal pregnancy outcome. The tissue contains high levels of mic...

A 70-year-old woman was referred to the endocrine clinic with recently diagnosed diabetes mellitus and poorly controlled systemic hypertension. At presentation she had clinical features of Cushing’s syndrome including central obesity, Cushingoid facies and marked proximal myopathy. BP was 220/190. Initial biochemistry revealed plasma sodium 140 mmol/l, potassium 3.6 mmol/l and creatinine 82 mmol/l. Overnight 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test revealed cortisol 1148 mmol/...

Introduction and aim: Long-term unemployment leads to poorer health and increased inequalities. The Welfare Reform Bill, published on 14 January 2009, supports the progression back to work for incapacity benefit claimants.Due to the chronic nature of endocrine conditions, affected patients may be at an increased risk of long-term unemployment. We do not currently hold data describing the unemployment or return to work rate for this group. Our aim is to d...

Introduction: Russell’s Viper is a venomous snake found in South and South East Asia. The snake bite causes coagulopathy, neurotoxicity, renal failure, local effects and even death. But hypopituitarism is an extremely rare complication1. There are only a few case reports from India and Burma and we report the first case from Sri Lanka.Case report: A 49 year old man from a remote part of Sri Lanka was bitten by a Russell’s viper 3 yea...

Annexin 1 (ANXA1) was first identified as a glucocorticoid (GC)-inducible protein in macrophages and is a mediator of the powerful anti-inflammatory actions of these steroid hormones. In the pituitary ANXA1 plays a critical role in mediating the early-onset negative feedback effects of GCs on the release of ACTH. ANXA1 is expressed in abundance in the anterior pituitary gland where it is localized specifically to the S100-positive folliculo-stellate (FS) cells. GCs act on FS c...

Direct trauma to the adrenal glands resulting in adrenal gland failure is relatively rare. We present two cases of post-traumatic hypoadrenalism.Case 1: A 53-year-old male who was trapped under a lorry trailer. He was found to have fractures of T6 (unstable), T12, rib and sternal fractures. He was transferred to the orthopaedic ward and required a spinal splint. He was slowly recovering until day 20 of his admission when he became hypotensive and tachyca...

Introduction: Persistent or intractable PHPT can lead to neuromuscular and psychiatric symptoms and may increase the long-term risk for cardiovascular disease and fractures. Cinacalcet (Mimpara/Sensipar) represents an innovative treatment option for this small group of patients, as it directly acts on the calcium sensing receptors on cell surfaces, reducing the severity of hypercalcemia.Purpose: To estimate the UK budget impact of cinacalcet in patients ...

Twelve-month-old GK rats that showed glucose intolerance were compared with age matched Wistar rats. The concentrations of noradrenaline (NA), adrenaline (ADR) dopamine (DOP), Neuropeptide Y (NPY), and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were measured in tissue samples. The objective was to assess whether glucose intolerance was associated with changes in the noradrenergic and peptidergic nerves innervating the tail artery (TA), seminal vesicle (SV) and corpus cavernosum (C...

Background: Pituitary adenomas (PA) are considered very rare conditions, with an estimated prevalence of 25 cases/100 000 inhabitants. However, community-based studies on the prevalence of PA are currently scant.Aim: To ascertain the prevalence of PA and the characteristics of the patients diagnosed with them in a large population of inhabitants.Methods: A survey on the GP surgeries of Banbury (Oxfordshire, UK) covering 89 334 inha...

Pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction are associated with abnormal placental cell (cytotrophoblast; CT) proliferation and apoptosis. The mechanisms regulating these events are unclear however altered levels of IGFs have also been reported in these conditions. Using an explant model of human first trimester placenta we have shown that both IGF-I and –II act through IGF1R mediated signalling pathways to enhance CT proliferation, d...