Endocrine Abstracts

Rapid correction of chronic hyponatremia can cause osmotic demyelination syndrome(ODS). Recent days, vasopressin receptor antagonists(VAs) are clinically used for the treatment of congestive heart failure or hyponatremia including SIADH. To date, few cases of ODS caused by VAs have reported; however, it is presumed that the treatment with VAs for severe hyponatremia may be associated with an increased risk of ODS. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether rapid correct...

Aim/background: The consumption of herbal weight-loss products sold over the Internet has rapidly increased, but the safety profile of these products has not been well known yet. Likewise, the declared ingredients in these products could be different than the marketed contents.Material and Methods: Nine different herbal weight-loss products sold over the Internet were included. The content of each product were evaluated in the Laboratory of Forensic Medi...

Rab proteins (Rab GTPase) have been implicated in the trafficking and exocytosis of secretary vesicle and play a central role in the secretion of hormones or neurotransmitters. However, the involvement of Rabs and Rab effectors in the regulation of AVP secretion is still unknown. Embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent cells that differentiate into all cell types. Recently, it has been reported that when dissociated ES cells are quickly reaggregeted in low cell-adhesion cult...

In the perinatal period iodine deficiency results in growth and mental impairment in fetus and newborns. However, there are limited data on iodine metabolism in mother and infants during this critical period.Objective: To assess the changes in urinary iodine concentration (UIC) in mothers and neonates.Methods: From July 2010 to October 2011, 155 pregnant women(31.1±2.1 years) without thyroid disease and their term infants (38....

Introduction: Excessive iodine intake can cause iodine overnutrition, goiter and other thyroid disease. This study is to probe the determinants of children’s iodine nutrition and their goitrous and nodular prevalence in areas with excessive iodine in drinking water in Hebei province of China. Methods Three townships were selected by simple random sampling among the 8 townships with median water iodine being 200–300 μg/l in Hengshui prefecture of Hebei province. ...

Excess glucocorticoids (GC) promote visceral obesity, hyperlipidemia and insulin resistance. The main regulators of intracellular GC levels are 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1), which converts inactive GC into bioactive forms such as cortisol in humans and corticosterone in rodents. Therefore, the inhibition of 11β-HSD1 has considerable therapeutic potential for metabolic diseases including obesity and diabetes. Benzofran is a key structure in ...

Introduction: Men with the metabolic syndrome have low plasma testosterone (T) levels. We aimed to study whether normalization of plasma T in such men improved features of the metabolic syndrome over the longer term.Design/methods: 145 men, 35 to 70 years, with the metabolic syndrome and hypogonadism (baseline total testosterone level <12.0 nmol/l or calculated free T level <225 pmol/l). They had received treatment for 30 weeks with either parent...

Background: The human adrenal cortex is composed of 3 distinct zones: the zona glomerulosa (ZG), the zona fasciculata (ZF), and the zona reticularis (ZR). Steroidogenic enzymes are expressed in a zone-specific manner. The promoters of CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 possess a number of target sites for DNA methylation that is closely associated with gene silencing.Methods and Materials: Adrenals from 5 autopsy subjects were assessed for immunohistrochemically define...

Introduction: It has been reported that primary aldosteronism(PA) is often associated with subclinical Cushing syndrome (SCS). In the present study, we investigated the frequency of SCS in subjects with PA.Method: Subjects included consecutive patients (n=43) who were diagnosed as PA between 2003 and 2011 in our institute. They were screened by plasma renin activity (PRA (ng/ml/h)) plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC (pg/mL)) ratio (ARR) above 2...

Japan has been regarded as a nongoitorous country due to the regular intake of iodine-rich food. However, nationwide information on current status of iodine intake is not available because there is no survey system for iodine nutrition in Japan.Objective: The objectives of this study is to characterize current iodine status in Japan.Methods: Since 2002 we have conducted studies on iodine nutrition in the Metropolitan area including...