Endocrine Abstracts

The aim of treatment in patients with acromegaly is to achieve serum GH/ IGF-I concentrations associated with cure or normalisation of mortality. Using the West Midlands acromegaly database (n=501) we assessed a number of parameters in the follow up of patients with acromegaly including the reliability of basal fasting GH in predicting nadir or mean GH during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) or growth hormone day curve (GHDC) respectively, the degree of discordance be...

Objectives: Insulin resistance (IR) is a very common metabolic abnormality in obesity, which is often associated with reduced growth hormone (GH) secretion. GH deficiency is associated with increased in intra-abdominal fat and several parameters of the metabolic syndrome. IGF-I improves IR but the IGF-binding proteins are supposed to regulate its bioactivity although only little information exists. We postulated that the elevated insulin levels due to IR do not only suppress G...

Background: Pituitary surgery is the primary therapy for Cushing’s disease (CD). Basal cortisol level (BCL) is measured postoperatively to evaluate the immediate efficacy of surgical treatment, but no definitive cut-off value has yet been determined as reliable. Our pituitary-dedicated centre uses an arbitrary BCL less than 50 nmol/l as expected early remission marker, identifying all patients with higher BCL as a risk group for early surgical failure.<p class="abstex...

In mammals, the preovulatory LH surge is thought to be triggered by enhanced release of GnRH into the hypothalamic–pituitary portal blood vessels. Recently, we discovered that the medial basal hypothalamus (MBH) of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) contains two distinct populations of GnRH-producing neurones. One of these populations expresses the traditional mammalian form of GnRH (i.e. GnRH-I) while the other expresses a more conserved vertebrate form of GnRH (i.e...

We have reported that serum DHEAS increases in growth hormone deficient (GHD) adults with intact ACTH reserve during GH replacement (GHR) in contrast with persisting low levels in ACTH-deficient GHD patients (Isidori et al. Clin Endo 2003:58:601). This was associated with a lower GH dose requirement in ACTH sufficient patients suggesting that DHEA may augment IGF-I generation. We have examined this hypothesis in a double blind placebo controlled trial of 30 hypopituitary femal...

Growth hormone (GH) and testosterone are both potent anabolic hormones, but it is not known whether they interact to positively regulate protein metabolism. To address this question, we have carried out two studies, in which we have investigated the impact of GH alone, testosterone alone and combined GH+testosterone, on whole body protein metabolism in hypopituitary men.In the first study, ten subjects received either GH (1.5 units daily) or GH+testosterone (250 milligrams...

Aim: A chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) for high-molecular-weight adiponectin (HMW-ADPN) was recently developed, and has been shown to be faster, more accurate and less expensive than conventional ELISA. In this study, we investigated the relationships between metabolic parameters and the HMW-ADPN level measured by CLEIA in a health check-up setting.Methods: Informed consent was obtained from 1036 male and 416 female Japanese, 40 to 71 years ...

Introduction: It is known that certain endocrine disorders are related to each other and occur together due to their autoimmune aetiology. Patients with an autoimmune disease must be considered at risk for other autoimmune disease. Addison’s disease usually presents with recurrent hypoglycaemia in subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus.We present a case Addison’s disease in type 1 diabetes presenting with severe hyperglycaemia.<p class="abs...

The influence of the plant lectins on binding of IGF-I, IGF-II and insulin to the cognate receptors from solubilised human placental cell membranes was examined. The lectins (wheat germ agglutinin, WGA; concanavalin A, Con A; phytohaemagglutinin, PHA and Sambucus nigra agglutinin, SNA) were chosen according to their sugar specificity and were expected to bind to the most abundant saccharides present as terminal residues on N-glycan moieties of insulin receptor (IR) and ...

Background: Nadir GH<2 mU/l in OGTT, normal IGF-I and mean GH<5 mU/l in the growth hormone day curve (GHDC) are considered the therapeutic endpoints in patients with acromegaly. However, discrepancies between these parameters have been reported.Aim: To compare the utility of the above tests in assessing the acromegaly status following surgical treatment.Patients and methods: Twenty-six consecutive patients (16 females) diag...