Endocrine Abstracts

GH acts at the target cell through the GH receptor (GHR), stimulating a cascade of events that leads to target gene transcription. Polymorphisms of the GHR (GHRPs) have been reported in the general population and have been described in exons 3, 6 and 10, although their prevalence is not well defined. It is conceivable that GHRPs might affect the growth response to exogenous GH in children with short stature of different origin. To evaluate the prevalence of the different GHRPs...

Deiodinase enzymes have an important role in thyroid hormone metabolism. Type I 5′-monodeiodinase (D1) converts thyroxine (T4) to triiodothyronine (T3), while type III 5-monodeiodinase (D3) inactivates T3 and produces reverse-T3 (rT3) from T4. In fetal sheep, plasma T3 rises towards term in association with the prepartum cortisol surge. This study investigated the effect of cortisol on tissue de...

The benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) represents an enlargement of the epithelial and fibromuscular parts of the prostate. Although androgens per se do not cause BPH, an intact androgen metabolism is a prerequisite for the normal fetal and pubertal development of the prostate. Furthermore, growth factors play a role in the development of BPH. Animal experiments have shown that the prostate – similar to other organs of the reproductive tract – undergoes a neonatal st...

To clarify the role of the pituitary in zebrafish interrenal development we investigated wildtype (wt) zebrafish and 3 pituitary mutants: aal (with lactotrophes only), and pit1 (with corticotrophes only), fgf3-lia (lacking all adenohypophyseal cell types) and in MC2R knockdown embryos (MC2R morphants).The interrenal primordium (IP) is detectable at 22hpf (hours post fertilization) as bilateral clusters of ff1b expressing cells which fuse to one domain at...

Adolescence is specific periods with physical, physiological, behavioral and social changes. Dietary intakes and food habits are important factors in determining those well-balanced changes during this period of life).336 high school girls (168 urban and 168 rural) in 14–18 years old were randomly selected to determine their daily dietary patterns, in comparing the differences between rural and urban adolescent girls.Data were...

Nutritional education and improvement of nutritional knowledge is an effective intervention that improves School children health. With consideration to few accurate and successful nutritional teaching programs directed at our schoolchildren in this research we evaluated the status of nutrition education system in primary school children and mothers’ point of view. The study was a qualitative study as a Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The research team consisted of a coordin...

Purpose of study: The study was focused on MRI of morphological changes of pituitary gland, pituitary fossa and surrounding structures in patients with primary growth failure. We evaluated MRI, clinical status and hormonal changes in 18 patients with primary growth failure referred to University Hospital.Methods and patients: We examined 18 patients (10 male, 8 female), average age 18.3 (2–34) years. All patients had a severe growth hormone deficien...

Normal linear growth in children is highly complex process, regulated by interaction of genetic, environmental and hormonal factors.We present four growth hormone deficient patients which despite severe growth hormone deficiency according to the provocative tests (ITT or GHRH+GHRP-6) and decreased IGF I level grew normally. This study was approved by Ethical Committee of University Clinical Center Belgrade. Three of our patients had idiopathic multiple p...

During the metaphase to anaphase transition of mitosis, destruction of the human securin, pituitary tumor-transforming gene (PTTG), and subsequent activation of the cysteine endopeptidase separase, leads to the cleavage of RAD21, a component protein of the cohesin complex. The developing fetal brain has rapidly proliferating neuronal cells, whilst adult neurons no longer proliferate and are maintained in G0 status of the cell cycle. We have previously investigated the expressi...

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a pleiotropic cytokine of the interleukine-6 superfamily, is involved in several functions including the control of reproduction at the embrionic-endometrial interface and the regulation of energy homeostasis. LIF activates a cell-surface receptor complex (LIF-Rs) composed of one ligand-specific low affinity LIF receptor β (LIFR-β) subunit and the gp-130 subunit. Since little is known about the involvement of LIF in the modulation of...

Introduction: Salt is the major environmental factor for a lot of hypertension problems. The effect of different salt consumption during prenatal period has been noticed little. In this study, the role of nutrition with different salt concentrations on BP, tissue changes were studied and NA and aldosterone level in next generation were evaluated.Method: Eight groups of rat, six in each group, (one male and five female) having 200±20 grams of weight ...

Introduction: Many epidemiological studies have shown that people who are small at birth tend to have higher blood pressure latter in life. In this study we evaluated the relation between salt consumption in pregnant rat with birth weight, weight changes during breeding period, weight in third Months and blood pressure.Method: Eight groups, each containing 6 mature rats with 200±20 gr weight were selected, Each group contain 5 non-pregnant rats and ...

Introduction: The type of Maternal electrolyte taken during prenatal period may change the homeostasis of body fluids which genetically sensitizes individuals during maturation. So in this experience, we studied the effects of different Nacl concentrations in distilled water used by pregnant rats on their offspring.Method: Eight groups, each containing 6 Mature rats with 200 gr weight were selected, Each group contain 5 non pregnant rats and a male durin...

Introduction: Despite early demonstrations that sympathetic activation elevates blood pressure and early clinical inklings that human hypertension may have a psychosomatic component, the pivotal role of the nervous system in human hypertension is only recently being clarified. We studied the effect of nutrition with different salt concentrations on autonomic nervous response.Method: Eight groups of rats, six in each group, (one male and five female) havi...

Children born with low birth weight (LBW, below 2500 g) exhibit slower development with deficit of height and, in adulthood, an increased risk of developing syndrome X. One possible explanation could be an enhanced elimination of cells by apoptosis. The aim of this study was evaluate of mechanism of lipid peroxidation and activity of caspase 3 in children with low birth weight.Subjects for study were 10 children with LBW and growth retardation (SDSHV&#60...

Hypopituitary patients on conventional hormone replacement, excluding GH have a reduced quality of life (QoL) and an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. NICE guidelines on criteria for initiation and maintenance of therapy rely on QoL score defined by the Adult GHD assessment (AGHDA) questionnaire. However, it is uncertain how this score is related to other biological effects such as vascular risk.Methods: Sixteen hypopituitary patients were recr...

Introduction: The tendency to eat salty foods is an individualized matter. Aldosterone plays an important role in this increase in salt appetite. In this study the effects of different salt concentrations during pregnancy on Na and aldosterone level, adrenal gland and salt appetite of rat’s infants and the relation of salt consumption with Bp were studied.Method: Eight groups of rats, six rats in each group, (ones of male and five female) having 200...

Background: Animal studies have indicated that maternal androgen levels influence the intrauterine environment and development of the offspring. As human data are missing, we investigated the possible association between maternal androgens and offspring size at birth in humans.Methods: Randomly collected parous Caucasian women (n=147) were followed prospectively through pregnancy. Maternal serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), a...

Aim: We aimed to describe mortality for both gender in children and adults, in Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD).Materials and methods: Using three national registries: The Causes of Death Registry, The National Patient Registry, and The Cancer Registry, and The International Classification of Diseases as a filter, we identified a primary cohort of 9,131 patients. All had a high a priori risk of having GHD. All available hospital files (representing 90.2% ...

We have previously shown that adults with partial GHD have increased total body and truncal fat mass, an adverse lipid profile, and insulin resistance. In this study we have gone on to analyse suggogate markers of vascular risk and carotid IMT. We defined GH status using the combination of two stimulation tests, the ITT and arginine stimulation test, in to patients with severe GHD (pGH<3 ng/ml, n=30) or GH insufficiency (pGH 3–7 ng/ml, n=24). Thirty age ...

Objectives: Conflicting data of the benefits of GH replacement improving psychological and physical well being is available, though open GH studies generally agree on an overall improvement. For growth hormone deficient patients to continue on therapy after evaluation there should be a 7 point improvement in their QoL-AGHDA, as documented in the NICE guidelines. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of 0.4 mg of GH on QoL in severe GH deficient patients in a double...

The peptide hormone ACTH stimulates lipolysis and suppresses leptin production in adipocytes via the G-protein coupled seven transmembrane receptor, MC2-R. We have shown previously that PPARγ2 is the primary factor responsible for transactivation of the already identified murine MC2-R promoter in the differentiating 3T3-L1 adipocyte cell line. In this study we show that despite the activity of this promoter being transient during differentiation, MC2-R mRNA remains elevat...