Endocrine Abstracts

Ghrelin is a novel acylated peptide predominantly purified from stomach and identified as an endogenous ligand for GH secretagogue receptor (GHS-R). Ghrelin is potent releaser of GH and in addition, actively participate in controlling energy balance, regulation of food intake and appetite. The GH response to ghrelin was higher than that after GHRH.The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of ghrelin on the mean plasma concentration of...

Context: It is well established that clinical features of acromegaly concern the teeth and the jaw, but less is known about the degree of oral and maxillofacial pathologies and its impact of the disease duration.Patients: Twenty-eight acromegalics (13 females, 15 males) with a mean age 49±11 (mean±S.D.) years (range 31–70) were included in the study. Thirty-two percent had active disease, 39% were well-controlled under the s...

Human GH is a member of a family of closely related hormones that include prolactin and placental lactogen. GH regulates a wide variety of physiological processes, including growth and differentiation of muscle, bone and cartilage cells. The use of GH for the treatment of children with impaired linear growth has been accepted as an important therapeutic modality for many years. In addition, beneficial effects of GH replacement therapy in hypopituitary adults are well establish...

Background/aims: Gaucher disease (GD) is autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder caused by the deficiency of enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GCD) with consequent massive acumulation of lipid-laden macrophages in various tissues including liver. It has been shown that chronic diseases with liver involvement might cause IGF1 deficiency. The aim of the study was to assess the IGF1 system in adult patients with type 1 Gaucher disease with and without enzyme replacement therapy (...

Transforming growth factor β1 has a critical role in the regulation of testicular function. Transgenic male mice over expressing α and β subunits of hCG (hCG+) are infertile and testicular steroidogenesis is enhanced showing high levels of testosterone and progesterone (P4). The chronic hCG hyperstimulation leads to Leydig cell (LC) hypertrophy/hyperplasia in prepubertal mice.Aims: To analyze: i) the expression of the TGF-β...

In the context of the cross-talk between the neuroendocrine and immune systems, it is well known that GH exerts physiological effects in central as well as peripheral compartments of the immune system. GH modulates a variety of thymic functions. For example, GH upregulates proliferation of thymocytes and thymic epithelial cells. Accordingly, GH-transgenic mice, as well as animals and humans treated with exogenous GH, exhibit an enhanced cellularity in the organ. GH also stimul...

Background: The impact of GH on insulin sensitivity is ambiguous since both long standing GH-deficiency as well as acute GH exposure and prolonged GH-excess are associated with insulin resistance.Aim: To test the hypotheses that the insulin antagonistic effect of GH i) is dynamic and depend on ambient GH levels and ii) subsides gradually with time after GH exposure.Methods: Eight GHDA participated in a randomised crossover study. E...

Introduction: Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) presents clinically with a multitude of findings, including abnormal body composition and partial GH deficiency. Until now three studies have reported beneficial effects upon body composition of GH treatment in adults with PWS. However, only one of these studies had the optimal randomised controlled design.Aim: The aim of this study was to confirm and substantiate the results from previous studies.<p cla...

Background: GH deficiency due to iron overload is well known in thalassaemic children, yet this association has not been described in children with haemochromatosis.Case report and methods: We report on a girl who was first seen at the age of 9.6 years (height 117.5 cm, −3.3 SDS, weight 21 kg, −2.5 SDS). She had a normal physical examination and was prepubertal. Target height-SDS was −0.9. Her bone age was delayed by 10 months. IGF1 was...

Background: There is a growing body of evidence of an alteration in GH/IGF1 axis in neurological diseases. IGF1 and IGFBP3 serum levels are reported to be similar in controls, relapsing remitting (RR) MS and primary progressive (PP) MS patients, but in RR patients on IFN therapy they were found to be higher then in controls. IGFBP3 was found to correlate to progression index in PPMS.Objective: To compare IGF1 and IGFBP3 serum levels in RR MS and secondar...

GH receptor knockout (GHRKO) mice were produced by a targeted disruption of the GH receptor (Ghr) gene. These long-lived mice, which are GH resistant, are characterized by a greatly reduced plasma levels of IGF1 and insulin and have enhanced insulin sensitivity (these effects resemble the characteristics of animals subjected to caloric restriction (CR), which is well known experimental model to delay aging and increase lifespan).Apoptosis, or programmed ...

The IGFs are cellular modulators that play essential roles in the regulation of growth and development processes. Obviously, the action of IGF1 is depended on the activation of the specific receptor (IGF1R), which plays pivotal role in the growth as well as in the protection of cells against different apoptotic damages.The aim of the study was to examined the effect of IGF1, acted by its receptor, on apoptosis process in mice hepatic and cardiac cells tr...

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is characterized by low-grade inflammation and determined as an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Recently, reports have demonstrated the antiinflammatory effects of statins. Often, the inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase called atorvastatin was used in these experiments.Therefore, the aim of the present study was to test the effect of atorvastatin (10 mg/day) on growth factors (ghrelin, IGF1) levels in piglets with MS. The ch...

We previously have reported that short-term treatment of mice with recombinant hGH leads to significant increases in bodyweight (BW), lean body mass (LBM) and liver weight, but – unlike in humans – does not robustly increase circulating levels of IGF1. We now tested the hypothesis that formation of neutralizing antibodies in mice treated with rhGH could explain the lack of IGF1 response. Therefore, we intentionally induced antibody formation against hGH in female FVB...

Background: Patients in end stage chronic kidney disease suffer from vascular calcification have high plasma level of phosphate (PO42−) and fibroblast grow factor 23 (FGF23). FGF23 is a ne...