Endocrine Abstracts

Childhood survivors of cancer are prone to a number of adverse sequelae related to the therapeutic interventions used. Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is common after cranial irradiation, and it is unclear to what extent GHD contributes to the abnormalities observed in adult survivors of childhood cancer, and whether GH replacement can reverse these anomalies. We compared 27 GHD survivors of childhood cancer with 27 adult age- and sex-matched controls, and went on to replace G...

In ovine placenta, binucleate cells (BNCs) are formed from trophectodermal uninucleate cells and produce placental lactogen (PL) and pregnancy associated glycoproteins (PAGs). BNC numbers cells are stable throughout most of pregnancy, yet fall abruptly just before term (Wooding et al., 1994), at a time when endogenous fetal cortisol levels are rising. This study looked at the effect of abolishing the normal prepartum cortisol rise by fetal adrenalectomy on the BNC population i...

Adrenal cortical cells are continuously renewed in order to sustain production of relevant zonal steroids. Cell proliferation occurs at the periphery of the cortex where cells subsequently displace centripetally, switching phenotypically as they migrate though the gland and finally undergoing apoptosis at the medullary boundary. However, it is not known which mechanisms cause the cells to differentiate as they cross the zonal boundaries. A candidate group of genes involved in ...

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) has been postulated to function as a vasodilator via a nitric oxide (NO) pathway. IGF-1/growth hormone deficiency in humans is associated with endothelial dysfunction and increased cardiovascular mortality.We compared the effects of IGF-1 on vascular function in control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) (n=6) and stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats characterised by endothelial dysfunction (SHRSP) (n=7)....

Introduction: Prolactin (PRL) acting through its receptor may play a role in regulating fetal BAT development. Chronic administration of prolactin to the dam throughout pregnancy enhances the maturation of BAT with the resulting offspring having more UCP-1 suggesting a direct role in switching on UCP1 at birth. The present study aimed to determine the effect of PRL on UCP-1 expression postnatally.Methods: Twenty seven female and twenty four male rats wer...

Introduction: In sheep, modest maternal nutrient restriction over the period of rapid placental growth followed by normal feeding to term results in offspring with a larger placenta and increased expression of the glucocorticoid receptor in a range of tissues. The aim of the present study was to determine whether this subsequently alters the relationship between basal cortisol and blood pressure in later life.Methods: Fourteen Welsh Mountai...

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is associated with adverse changes in lipid profile. There are no longitudinal studies of lipid abnormalities in childhood-onset GHD into adulthood. In order to more accurately define the metabolic consequences of GHD in childhood progressing through to adulthood we have examined lipid levels in a group of untreated severely GHD patients with a mutation in the GHRH receptor gene from a rural community in Northeast Brazil.1...

Evolution of pituitary growth hormone (GH) in mammals has generally been very slow but with short bursts of rapid change in the evolution of some groups. Such a period of rapid change occurred in the evolution of GH in primates or a primate ancestor and gave rise to the marked species specificity of human GH. By cloning and sequencing of GH genes from a prosimian, the slow loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus), and a New World monkey, the marmoset, (Callithrix jacchus) we ...

The sequence of pituitary growth hormone (GH) is generally strongly conserved in mammals, but short bursts of rapid change during the evolution of primates and artiodactyls have led to marked differences in primary structure and biological specificity in human and ruminant GHs. Recent molecular studies have shown that Cetacea are nested within Artiodactyla, and the combined grouping (Artiodactyla and Cetacea) has been termed the Cetartiodactyla. To explore further GH evolution...

Programming of the HPA axis during prenatal and early postnatal life may explain, in part, the association between low birth weight (BW) and the increased incidence of cardiovascular and metabolic disease in later life. The present study examined the effect of variations in intrauterine growth on HPA axis function, assessed by an insulin-induced hypoglycemic challenge, in 3 and 12 month (m) old pigs.Low BW (<1.5 kg; n=22) and high BW (>1.5 kg; n=25...