Endocrine Abstracts

Steroid sulphatase (STS) is the primary enzyme for desulphating steroids from their inactive to their active forms. Principal substrates include steroid precursors oestrone-sulphate and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate. Alterations in STS activity can directly affect local concentrations of oestradiol, testosterone and dihydrotestosterone; steroids that are frequently dysregulated in disease. Despite the importance of STS activity on steroid synthesis, little is known about its ...

A number of evidence indicate that mood (affective) disorders are influenced by various bioactive steroids such as corticoids, sex hormones and neuroactive steroids. However, to date, there are limited data concerning the discrimination between patients suffering from the disorders and controls, or regarding the classification of individual subtypes of mood disorders on the basis of steroid profiling. Therefore 47 steroids including their conjugates and further related substan...

Introduction: The bone-sparing effect of oestrogen is mediated via oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα), which stimulates transcriptional action through its two activation functions (AF1 and AF2). In addition to these nuclear effects, a fraction of this receptor is targeted to the plasma membrane and triggers membrane initiated steroid signaling (MISS). Whereas, ERα AF1 plays a crucial role in trabecular bone, but not cortical bone, ERα AF2 is necessary for the oestro...

Background: According to the literature, glucocorticoid receptor (GR) function is modulated by phosphorylation. Retinoic acid (RA) can activate some cytoplasmic kinases able to phosphorylate GR.Aim: As RA and glucocorticoids interact in neuronal cells, we investigated whether RA could modulate GR phosphorylation in such cells.Methods: HT-22 hippocampal cells were cultured 4d with or without dexamethasone (Dex, 10-6 M) or RA (10-6 M...

Objective: HNF1A gene mutations are the most common cause of monogenic diabetes. Patients with HNF1A–MODY display sensitivity to sulphonylurea therapy, however the long term efficacy has yet to be established. There is also limited literature as to the prevalence of complications in this unique cohort. The aim of the study was to determine the natural progression of HNF1A–MODY diabetes in a dedicated MODY clinic.Design: n=60 H...

Introduction: It is postulated that uptake rates for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) screening would be improved if offered in a setting more accessible to the patient. However, this has not been previously investigated, nor has the feasibility or the acceptability of such an alternative. The aim of this study is to evaluate the rate of uptake of GDM screening in the primary vs secondary care setting, and to qualitatively explore the providers’ experience of primary c...

Irisin is a myokine correlated with lean body mass, despite its association with cardiovascular events (Mantzoros 2014). Increased muscle volume and lipoatrophy have been reported in female FPLD (Ji JCEM 214). Our aim was to determine whether irisin could help to distinguish certain lipodystrophic obesities from FPLD.Methods and patients: Circulating irisin levels (EIA Phoenix) were measured in 20 LMNA-related FPLD, 19 normal-weighed controls (H) and 13 ...

Background: Survivors of childhood leukaemia (ALL) treated with cranial radiotherapy (CRT) are at risk for cognitive impairment. Whether the impairment progresses with follow-up time and if survivors with cognitive impairment have an increased risk for overweight, is unknown. We aimed to investigate the long-term cognitive functioning in ALL survivors treated with CRT in comparison to matched controls.Method: Cognitive functioning was investigated in 38 ...

Brain ageing associates decreased neuronal plasticity, increased glucocorticoid and decreased retinoic acid (RA) signalling. We previously showed an interaction of these pathways on the regulation of a synaptic plasticity gene, BDNF. We thus investigated the effects of GC and RA on two BDNF-dependent genes: activity-regulated cytoskeleton protein (Arc) and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMK). Dexamethasone (Dex, 10−6 M) and/or RA (10<...

We have recently observed that the peroxisome proliferator receptor α was expressed by normal and tumoural pituitary tissues, in particular by somatotrophs. To elucidate its function, we have studied the effects of fenofibrate on cell proliferation and GH secretion in GH3 cells.Material and methods: GH3 cells were grown in Ham’s F10 and treated for 24, 48 and 72 h by different concentrations of fenofibrate (12.5–50 &#...