Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes are risk factors for the development of dementia. In addition to vascular dysfunction, insulin resistance may be important since altered insulin sensitivity is associated with changes in neurogenesis. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a disorder characterised by insulin resistance. Little is known about the impact of metabolic abnormalities on brain structure and function in younger adults.Objecti...

Leydig cell tumour (LCT) is a stromal testicular tumour comprising 3% of testicular neoplasms. Metastases are rare, have a poor prognosis and can appear many years after tumour removal. Current therapy for metastatic disease is limited, with no role for radiotherapy and poor efficacy of chemotherapy regimens. About 50–70% of metastatic LCT show associated steroid excess, comprising not only androgens but sometimes steroids physiologically produced in the adrenals. Here we...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a clinical triad of anovulation, hyperinsulinaemia, and androgen excess. Adipose androgen generation of testosterone from androstenedione by aldo-ketoreductase type 1C3 (AKR1C3) may contribute to hyperandrogenism. We hypothesised that insulin may upregulate adipose AKR1C3 expression in vitro in a human differentiated preadipocyte cell line.We analysed AKR1C3 expression in the SGBS human preadipocyte cell line....

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a clinical triad of anovulation, insulin resistance, and androgen excess in women. Adipose androgen generation of testosterone from androstenedione by aldo-ketoreductase type 1C3 (AKR1C3) may contribute to hyperandrogenism, particularly in the setting of obesity. We aimed to determine the effects of BMI and age on AKR1C3 expression in subcutaneous (SC) and omental (OM) fat depots in both women and men.Paired SC and OM ...

Introduction: Anti-phospholipid syndrome is characterised by the presence of arterial or venous thrombosis, it is autoimmune in nature and manifests as a systemic disease. Adrenal vein haemorrhagic infarction which is a sequel of adrenal vein thrombosis ultimately leads to loss of adrenal function, it is one of the presentations of anti-phospholipid syndrome especially with catastrophic type. In one analysis adrenal involvement was reported in only 13% of the reported cases of...

Purpose: To analyze CT signs and parameters of vascularization of pulmonary neuroendocrine tumours (PNT) and their relationship with the development of ACTH ectopic syndrome.Materials and methods: 23 patients with PNT were evaluated with contrast-enhanced MDCT. Arterial and venous phases were obtained at 10 and 35 seconds after the attenuation of 200 HU at the descending aorta, a delayed phase was at 6–8 min after the start of injection of contrast...

Parathyroid cysts are rare, usually asymptomatic and typically present as a neck lump. They are most commonly detected in middle-aged women and can occasionally present with compressive symptoms. True parathyroid cysts are non-functional and benign in nature, allowing a more conservative approach to their management in many patients. We present the case of an 82-year-old lady with a past medical history of a presumed parathyroid cyst which was drained by the ENT surgeons. Thre...

A 54-year-old Asian man with type two diabetes diagnosed 6 years ago was admitted to hospital in May 2011 because of deteriorating renal function. His eGFR had been stable until April 2011 when his eGFR dropped from 37 in January 2011–2021. Repeat eGFR 2 weeks later was 17 and his family doctor felt he needed to be admitted to hospital. He was on metformin alone which was stopped. His HbA1c was 6.4% (48 mmol/mol). He had hypertension and was on four antihypertensive agent...

Ulceration is a common and severe complication of diabetes affecting 15% of the 200 million patients with diabetes worldwide. A significant proportion of these chronic wounds fail to respond to conventional treatment, hence major amputation is a feared outcome of diabetes. More than 60% of non-traumatic amputations in the western world are performed in the diabetic population. There exists a growing need for effective therapeutic agents to improve healing in these wounds.<...

Introduction: We previously reported the novel finding that leptin, and several other fat-derived hormones (adipokines), is expressed and regulated in rat hypothalamus (1). Subsequently leptin (ob) mRNA was found in human, sheep and pig brain, but was surprisingly undetectable in mouse brain. In the present experiments we used a mouse hypothalamic neuronal cell line to investigate possible inhibitory mechanisms that may prevent mouse neurons from expressing ob mRNA. These incl...