Endocrine Abstracts

Thyroid gland secretes thyroid hormones, which play a critical role in growth, differentiation, reproduction and metabolism, whereas hypothyroidism in children is associated with short stature and normalisation of thyroid function with thyroxin replacement therapy increases linear growth velocity (LGV). In stimulating LGV, thyroxin may have its direct effects on bone cells or it may affect LGV through its effect on growth hormone (GH) secretion. The present study attempted to ...

In GH deficiency (GHD), which is a medical condition caused by problems in the pituitary gland, the body does not produce sufficient amount of GH, resulting in short stature in children. The treatment of GHD short children with exogenous GH increases linear growth velocity (LGV). The present study determined the effect of exogenous GH treatment on LGV, the dose(s) of exogenous GH that effectively impacts LGV and the stage(s) of puberty at which the effect of exogenous GH treat...

Muscle wasting remains a significant complication in patients with inflammatory disease where it contributes to disability, risk of falls and early mortality. Interestingly, muscle wasting in patients with glucocorticoid excess mirrors that observed in patients with inflammatory disease. We have previously reported that the glucocorticoid activating enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) is potently up-regulated within mesenchymal derived cell popu...

Puberty, one segment of a larger developmental continuum in humans, is characterized by major transformations in body such as highest growth, sexual development and distribution of fat in different body regions. Leptin is regarded as an essential adipokine that regulates intake of food, expenditure of energy and body fat mass. It is well known that alterations in nutritional states markedly influence growth hormone (GH) secretion, which in turn regulates linear growth, muscle ...

The maturation of hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis causes the onset of puberty, which stimulates the development of secondary sex characteristics and changes in the size and composition of the body. Furthermore, the size of the thyroid gland increases and its function also changes as an adaptation to the requirements of the transformation of child to an adult. It has also been reported that the thyroid hormones including thyroxin (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) have a f...

In Central and Eastern Cheshire, Secondary Care endocrinology/diabetes clinicians can now access a summary of the patient’s primary care electronic patient record (EPR), using a secure Web browser for GP data held by the GP provider EMIS. This improves decision making at the point of care.The clinicians, including consultants, SpRs, dieticians and specialist nurses can access details of medication, allergies, and previous diagnoses, available for 95...

Synovial fibroblasts (SFs) form a substantial component of inflamed rheumatoid synovium and generate endogenous glucocorticoids (GCs) during inflammation. Recently, production of DKK-1 (a Wnt signalling inhibitor that reduces bone formation) by SFs in response to TNFα has been proposed to be the master regulator of inflammatory osteoporosis. We have identified that in addition to TNFα, GCs potently induce DKK-1 secretion. This may provide a novel mechanism whereby lo...

We have previously proposed a central role for locally generated glucocorticoids in the periarticular and systemic osteoporosis seen in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Synovial fibroblasts (SFs) express the 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) enzyme and this expression increases dramatically with inflammation. Recently, production of DKK-1 (a Wnt signalling inhibitor known to inhibit bone formation) by SFs in response to inflammation has been proposed to ex...

High dose glucocorticoids are effective in suppressing inflammatory synovitis but have adverse effects on other connective tissues. In inflammatory arthritis glucocorticoids suppress the capacity of synovial fibroblasts (SFs) to recruit leukocytes to the joint whereas poor skin healing is due to impaired dermal fibroblast (DF) function. It is unknown whether these clinical differences are due to similar or distinct effects of glucocorticoids on fibroblast function.<p class...

Cigarette smoking is the major cause of disease related deaths in the world. Cigarette smoke contains many harmful chemicals, among them nicotine is the most potent one. The root cause of smoking hazards is nicotine addiction or dependence (ND). Environmental as well as genetic factors are reported to influence smoking which leads to nicotine addiction in all age groups especially. Neurexin1 is a cell adhesion protein important for synapse formation and CHRNB4 is chol...