Endocrine Abstracts

SEVERE HYPERCALCEMIA CAUSED BY A VISIBLE PARATHYROID ADENOMA IN AN ADOLESCENT FEMALEU.Das1, H Iassac1, H Kanchi1, DA Price1, GM Humphrey2 & C M Hall1Departments of 1Endocrinology and 2Surgery, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester, Hospital Road, Manchester M27 4HA.A 16-year-old female collapsed following a 24-hour history of severe abdominal pain and vomiting. She was shocked, hypertensive (16...

Background: Many in vitro studies have suggested that oxidative stress induced by hyperglycemic condition has pivotal role for pathogenesis of vascular complications in diabetics. This study intended to evaluate oxidative stress and antioxidant potential in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), and to clarify the relation between oxidative stress and metabolic derangements including chronic hyperglycemia.Materials and methods: We measured t...

Background: Sympathetic pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors associated with excess catecholamine production. Routine biochemical and imaging surveillance to monitor for recurrence and metastasis is recommended. However, there is limited data describing optimal surveillance approaches and post-operative biochemical thresholds for detecting recurrences or metastases. This study sought to correlate biochemical and imaging surveillance with ...

Background: Non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD) affects up to 30% of adults worldwide. With the prevalence of NAFLD increasing after menopause, women aged >55 years are more likely to progress to advanced fibrosis than men. Moreover, liver decompensation secondary to NAFLD is more frequent in women compared to men. However, the causes of these differential outcomes are not fully understood.Methodology: We performed a retrospective cohort study utilis...

Background: Urinary steroid metabolite profiling is an accurate reflection of adrenal and gonadal steroid output and metabolism in peripheral target cells of steroid action. Measurement of steroid metabolite excretion by gas chromatography-–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) is considered reference standard for biochemical diagnosis of steroidogenic disorders. However, performance of GC–MS analysis and interpretation of the resulting data requires significant expertise a...

Prolactin (PRL) is a peptide hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland and it is commonly known for its lactogenic and mammotrophic effects. In humans and primates, prolactin is also expressed in extra-pituitary sites where it is associated with numerous biological functions, but its spectrum of expression varies in different species.Hyperprolactinemia-induced osteoporosis is believed to be mediated by hypogonadism, but the expression of the prola...

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....

A 73-year-old woman developed androgenic alopecia and progressive hair growth on the chest, back and abdomen over the course of 3–4 years. Menarche was at age 16. She had irregular menstrual periods subsequently but gave birth to three children. She reached menopause at age 40. No history of weight loss or sweating was reported. At presentation, we saw a 73-year-old lady with pronounced hirsutism (Ferriman–Gallway-score 24/36). No virilizing signs of the external gen...

A 43-year-old man presented with aching legs, gynaecomastia, erectile dysfunction, central obesity, and generalised hair loss. Examination confirmed these findings as well as showing him to be hypertensive at 160/100 mmHg. Routine haematology and biochemistry as well as levels of anterior pituitary hormones were normal, except for an inappropriately low TSH in the face of normal T3 and T4 levels. A pituitary MRI showed the presence of an ill defined area of reduced signal inte...