Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Newly diagnosed primary hypoparathyroidism during pregnancy has been reported rarely. We recently encountered a first presentation of maternal hypoparathyroidism that was complicated by acute maternal and fetal hypocalcaemia.Clinical presentation: A 36-year-old lady presented with hypocalcaemia at delivery of her third child. While early antenatal progress was uncomplicated she was admitted at 36 weeks gestation with pre-eclampsia and supra...

Aim: To study those factors which influence the sensitivity and positive predictive value of combined MIBI scintigraphy and ultrasound scan in the localisation of parathyroid adenomas.Method: A retrospective review of notes was done of 150 patients with hypercalcaemia referred to the Endocrine outpatients’ clinic, between the years 2002–2005.Notes of 135 patients with biochemical evidence of primary hyperparathyroidism (P...

Objective: To test the hypothesis that poor adolescent diabetic control results in poor adult control.Methods: We conducted a retrospective case notes study involving 57 patients (M:F 30:27) in a teaching hospital. Patients who had diabetes atleast for a minimum period of 10 years were selected and their HbA1c when they were between 17 and 19 years of age were compared with the most recent HbA1c.The adolescent control was divided i...

Background: Pituitary adenomas (PA) have traditionally been considered as very rare conditions, with an estimated prevalence of 25 cases/100 000 inhabitants. However, these data have been extracted either from cancer registries or from hospital databases and therefore, may not be accurate.Aim: To ascertain the prevalence of PA and the characteristics of the patients diagnosed with them in a large population of inhabitants.Methods: ...

Annexin 1 (ANXA1) externalised from folliculostellate cells is known to be an essential intermediate in the early delayed (30 min- 3 h) negative feedback of glucocorticoids on the release of ACTH and other pituitary hormones. We have used a well-characterised folliculostellate cell line (TtT/GF cells) to investigate the mechanism by which ANXA1, a cytoplasmic protein, is externalised by cells. Externalisation is stimulated by dexamethasone (Dex) and inhibited by inhibitors of ...

Introduction: There are numerous conditions which can cause elevated testosterone levels in women. PCOS being the commonest. Other causes include ovarian/adrenal androgen secreting tumours, CAH, Cushing syndrome, hyperprolactinemia, virilisation during pregnancy and finally idiopathic cause.Objectives: Our objective was to look into the way in which women with elevated testosterone were evaluated. We looked into why testosterone levels were done, who req...

Background: Testosterone replacement therapy is available in a variety of preparations. Nebido, a long acting testosterone undecanoate injection offered at 3 monthly intervals, has recently become available thus reducing the need for frequent injections.Aim: To investigate the efficacy and safety of Nebido.Patients and methods: Eighteen patients aged between 22–77 years (median 44.5 years) with primary or secondary hypogonadis...

Background/objective: The prevalence of low serum TSH in the general population is in the order of 2.5–3.9%, and increases with age. True subclinical hyperthyroidism (SH) (low/suppressed serum TSH, normal serum fT4 and fT3) is less common. In one population based study of 1193 subjects, 66 (5.5%) were found to fit the criteria for SH. Of these, 75% had serum TSH 0.05–0.5 mIU/l, of whom 76% normalised within 12 months. At 12 months 87.5% subjects with serum TSH <0...

Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) support angiogenesis and thus tissue growth. They are synthesised and secreted by several cell types but their actions are normally limited to endothelial cells which express VEGF receptors (VEGFRs). Using qRT-PCR and Western blotting we found that normal human thyroid follicular cells also express VEGFRs (VEGFR1-3, neuropilin1 and 2). We have examined the regulation of the expression of VEGFs and PlGFs in the cells. Cells were fully...

We have recently shown that human thyroid follicular cells in culture secrete large amounts of active plasminogen activators (PAs). Thyroid cells also secrete large amounts of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and express their receptors, the VEGFRs. PAs, as serine proteases, are known to process growth factors, particularly VEGFs into active forms. In endothelial cells, VEGFs stimulate PA production. We examined the effect of inhibiting VEGF signalling on thyroid fo...