Endocrine Abstracts

The expression of GHSR, an endogenous Ghrelin receptor, has been reported in pituitary, but the levels of expression of this receptor are low and the role of the GHSR in the normal physiology to directly affect GH or Prolactin release in pituitary remains unclear. We used a line of GH-GHSR transgenic mice to analyse the effects of hGHSR over-expression in the pituitary GH cells. We also crossed these mice with GH-GFP transgenic mice with fluorescent somatotrophs.<p class="...

Urocortin 3 is a CRF-related ligand highly specific for the Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptor Type 2 (CRFR2). CRFR2 is implicated in the regulation of stress-related behaviours and the neuroendocrine response to stressors. Close anatomical association between major Urocortin 3 terminal fields and CRFR2 in the limbic system and hypothalamus indicate this system is well placed to be involved in modulating of the physiological stress response. Transgenic mice ubiquitously o...

Colocalisation of hormones in the adult human pituitary has been demonstrated only for growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PL) and only for adenomatous tissue. We have investigated whether colocalization occurs earlier in ontogenesis. Pituitaries from male human fetuses of 16–22 weeks gestational age fixed by immersion in 4% buffered formaldehyde and embedded in LR Gold were processed for immunocytochemical double labelling with GH/FSH or GH/LH anti-rat and anti-human prim...

Aim: Somatostatin mediates its effects via five known receptor subtypes sst1-sst5. The somatostatin analogue octreotide, which binds preferentially to sst2 and to a lesser extent to sst3 and sst5, may be used prior to surgery of GH-secreting tumors. To investigate the variable response rates of such treatment, we analyzed sst expression levels in tumor tissue.Methods: 44 patients with acromegaly (20m, 24f, 48.7+/...

Although neuroendocrine tumours (NET) constitute a very heterogeneous group, they express somatostatin receptors in more than 80% of cases that allows for their effective diagnosis and treatment with somatostatin analogues. Introduction in the recent years of new somatostatin analogues and chelators feasible for labelling with radiometals allowed for development of new therapeutic strategy – radiopeptide therapy. The aim of the work is to present experience with 90</...

Paragangliomas (PGLs) and pheochromocytomas (PHEOs) are neural crest-derived tumors (NCD). PGLs can be localized in parasympathetic ganglia (in the head-neck region or in the anterior thorax) or in sympathetic ganglia (in the posterior thorax or in the abdomen). PHEOs can be considered PGLs arising in the adrenal gland.NCD tumors can present as sporadic or familial. The percentage of hereditary forms is supposed to be 25%. The susceptibility genes predis...

Various psychiatric conditions have been associated with stress and alterations in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. Yet while stress is a general phenomenon, illness is only seen in a proportion of individuals, suggesting genetic modifiers of ability to cope with stress. 11-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (HSD1) regenerates corticosterone from inert 11-dehydrocorticosterone, amplifying the levels of glucocorticoids and is expressed in the brain. To deter...

Background: The growth hormone/ IGF-I axis is important in the pathogenesis of breast cancer and increased IGF-I signalling through the IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) has been implicated in the development of tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer.Aims: To compare mRNA and protein expression of IGF-I & IGF-IR in (i) wild type (WT) and tamoxifen resistant (TR) MCF-7 breast cancer cells and (ii) breast cancer tissue from women with primary and recurrent, tamox...