Endocrine Abstracts

In women, gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) is secreted from the hypothalamus and conveyed via the portal vasculature to the anterior pituitary gland every 60-90 minutes. This binds GnRH receptor and triggers pulsatile release of gonadotrophin hormones, Follicle stimulating and Luteinising hormone (FSH and LH), which stimulate and regulate folliculogenesis. The interdependence of these events accounts for the high number of cycling disorders in women, and the origin of the...

Exposure to high levels of glucocorticoids (GCs) at critical stages in development is thought to compromise immune function in adulthood (1), but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Accordingly, we have examined the effects of perinatal dexamethasone treatment on the expression in the adult thymus of (a) inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS-2, paradoxically also expressed constitutively in the thymus) which liberates NO, a factor involved in the negative selection...

Annexin I, a phospholipid and calcium binding protein, plays a well demonstrated role in the early delayed inhibitory feedback actions of glucocorticoids in the pituitary. Annexin I is localized in folliculostellate (FS) cells and glucocorticoids act on these cells to externalize annexin I at specific foci on FS cell processes (Chapman et al, 2002 Endocrinology, in press). Annexin I lacks a signal sequence to direct it into the secretory pathway and the foci of externalized an...

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The Melanocortin 2 Receptor (MC2R) is best known for its role in the adrenal cortex where it couples the action of ACTH to steroidogenesis, however it is also expressed by the adipocyte. We set out to characterize the up-regulation of the MC2R in the 3T3-L1 fibroblast, which can be induced to undergo adipogenesis.RT-PCR using primers specific to exons 1 and 2 amplified three bands in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes which sequencing revealed to be distin...

Impaired insulin action is a characteristic feature of type 2 diabetes and skeletal muscle is the principal tissue for peripheral glucose disposal. Aims: To determine if after prolonged culture human muscle cells from characterised type 2 diabetes patients have defects of insulin action compared to controls. Design: After attaining local Ethical Committee approval six compliant type 2 diabetic patients with severe clinical insulin resistance, on greater than 100 units of insul...

Prescription rates for HRT in women with type 2 diabetes are low. One reason for this is concern about adverse metabolic effects although evidence on this is limited. We report results from a 3-month randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial of 1mg 17-beta oestradiol combined with 0.5 mg norethisterone acetate in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes. The study has full local ethics committee approval.29 subjects entered the study; 1 taking ...

Background: The anti-hyperglycemic effects of thiazolidinedione/biguanide combination therapy are well established. However, the impact of such therapy on other clinical risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) has not been extensively reported.Objective: To evaluate the anti-hyperlipidemic effects of pioglitazone (PIO) and rosiglitazone (ROSI) used in combination with metformin (MET) in patients with type 2 diabetes, a multicenter, retrospective, r...