Endocrine Abstracts

This review was published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology. It covers recent advances in treatment of pituitary tumours secreting prolactin including long-term adverse effects of dopamine agonist therapy, outcomes following dopamine agonists withdrawal, advances in surgical tumour resection. In addition, there are sections on management during pregnancy, effects of hyperprolactinemia on bone and fracture risk, the management of cystic and aggressive prolactinomas. Prolactinomas...

Insulin resistance is one of the metabolic pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes mellitus which cause neurodegeneration, due to its effects on insulin signaling pathway. The present study focused on the intracerebroventricular administration of streptozotocin (STZ) to induce insulin resistance directly in brain, accounting for alteration in insulin signaling pathway and thus the possible therapeutic effect of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum on the impairment hippocampus of diabetic r...

Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) is a significant complication of paediatric diabetes, the effective management of which relies on meticulous calculations, and timely decision making in response to changing physiology. A previous regional audit in South West England has shown that compliance with national guidelines is highly variable, and errors in calculations such as fluid rates are common. Fluid management in paediatric DKA is a subject of ongoing debate and changing guidance. ...

Neonatal hypocalcaemia (NH) is a well described phenomena with values of 2–2.25 mmol/l seen at 24 h of age after the cessation of transfer of transplancental calcium. Levels then increase to normal by 2 weeks of life. Calcium levels below 2.0 mmol/l in infants >1.5 kg is considered to be pathological hypocalcaemia. The role of vitamin D in NH is unclear and not well studied in both neonate and mother.Aim: To present the features of neonates with...

Fasting hypoglycemia in the setting of hyperinsulinemia typically is persistent and often progressive. We present a case where fasting hypoglycemia with hyperinsulinemia was transient in nature over a fortnight. This occurred in the setting of recurrent seizure-like activity. Seizures are a well known sequela of hypoglycemia; however, the reverse is not nearly as well documented. A 20 year old male with a history of developmental delay, chronic PEG tube, and nonverbal at basel...

Patients with neuroendocrine tumours require co-ordinated multidisciplinary and multimodal management, with appropriate referral pathways and access to timely expert care. This is exemplified by the European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS) Centres of Excellence (CoE). There are forty CoE in Europe, ten of which are in the UK. The bar to achieve CoE status is set high, and the standards used for the audit assessments are appropriate to deliver best care even where centre ...

Recent years have seen major advances in our understanding of the causes of adrenal and pituitary Cushing’s syndrome. Careful molecular analyses have yielded new information about the underlying cellular mechanisms leading to the excess secretion of ACTH from the pituitary or cortisol from the adrenal. Unpicking these mechanisms has allowed proposals for new clinical trials of medical treatments for Cushing’s disease. Intriguingly, inherited germ line mutations appea...

Patients with neuroendocrine tumours require co-ordinated multidisciplinary and multimodal management, with appropriate referral pathways and access to timely expert care. This is exemplified by the European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS) Centres of Excellence (CoE). There are forty CoE in Europe, ten of which are in the UK. The bar to achieve CoE status is set high, and the standards used for the audit assessments are appropriate to deliver best care even where centre ...

Recent years have seen major advances in our understanding of the causes of adrenal and pituitary Cushing’s syndrome. Careful molecular analyses have yielded new information about the underlying cellular mechanisms leading to the excess secretion of ACTH from the pituitary or cortisol from the adrenal. Unpicking these mechanisms has allowed proposals for new clinical trials of medical treatments for Cushing’s disease. Intriguingly, inherited germ line mutations appea...

Aim: We explored the mechanistic interactions and potential therapeutic benefits of curcumin and quercetin co-administration with a specific focus on Glycogen synthase kinase 3 GSK-3 activity.Methods: We hypothesize that excess GSK-3 accumulation in the substantia nigra is driven by oxidative stress and aim to test the effects of these compounds on the localization and activity of GSK-3 in the well-established model organism Drosophila melanogaster. We p...