Endocrine Abstracts

Stress defined as a disruption in the normal homeostatic functions of an organism caused by a stressor (a physiological or psychological challenge) is an unavoidable experience of life. Previous studies suggest that stress hormones have acute adverse effects on glycaemic control. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of chronic psychological and physical stress on the expression of insulin receptor (INSR) and glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4) in male Sprague–Dawley r...

The study investigated the potential alteration in the level of insulin and adiponectin, as well as the expression of INSR and GLUT-4 in chronic restraint stress rats. Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups: the control group and stress group in which the rats were exposed to one of the four different restraint stressors; 1 h, twice daily for a period of 7 days (S7D), 14 days (S14D) and 28 days (S28D). To minimize habituation, the sequence of the stress...

Introduction: Despite the usefulness of using theory to underpin analysis, there is a paucity of literature applying this to experiences of gastric banding (GB) surgery. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is useful for exploring beliefs underlying behaviour. The present study uses a TPB framework to explore individuals’ beliefs towards GB both prior to and five years post-surgery.Methods: A prospective longitudinal qualitative study. Semi-structu...

Glucocorticoids are widely prescribed therapeutic agents, however long term treatment can cause increased morbidity from adverse metabolic events, including weight gain and hyperglycaemia. The mechanisms and site of action which underpin these side-effects are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to characterise phenotypic, biochemical and neurohormonal responses in mice administered corticosterone, with a particular focus on changes seen in the early stages of chro...

The importance of weight reduction in the management of diabesity is well-established. However, significant weight loss can be difficult to achieve without bariatric surgery, even within specialist tier 3 obesity services. Here we describe the case of a 52 year old man who presented to weight management clinic. He had made multiple weight loss attempts, but with little success. On presentation, his weight was 140.8 kg with a BMI of 40.3 kg/m2, and he had now been static at thi...

Background: Metabolic endotoxaemia (raised bacterial endotoxin in serum after high-fat feeding) has been shown to reduce insulin sensitivity in humans through systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. Mitochondria represent the main source of cellular reactive oxygen species and mutations in mitochondrial DNA often result in a diabetic phenotype. However, the direct cellular impact of endotoxin on mitochondrial respiration and DNA integrity, particularly within the context o...

Introduction: Familial Partial Lipodystrophy Type 1 (FPLD1) is characterised by loss of gluteal and limb subcutaneous fat and increased abdominal fat. The genetic basis is currently unknown. FPLD1 is frequently associated with metabolic problems including diabetes, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Despite central adiposity and severe metabolic abnormalities, this group of patients often do not qualify for NHS funding for bariatric surger...

Introduction: The NHS Commissioning Board recommends the introduction of multidisciplinary Tier 3 Specialist Weight Management Services (SWMS) for adults with obesity. Unfortunately, these services are yet to be commissioned in many areas and this largely reflects financial barriers to their development. We have noted, through observation and feedback, that our Tier 3 service is highly valued by patients. Supportive evidence in the literature - although encouraging - is limite...

The prevalence of obesity is increasing in most populations. The aim of this study was to provide baseline data on the concentrations of chlorinated and brominated dioxins and related compounds as well as polybrominated diphenyl ethers to assess whether concentrations of these compounds are higher in obese than control subjects.Materials and Methods: Patients undergoing Roux-en-y gastric bypass surgery for weight loss and control patients who were underg...

Introduction: Accumulating evidence has shown that not only maternal health during pregnancy, but also the paternal metabolic status at the time of conception may have an impact on the subsequent health of the offspring. Cholestatic liver diseases are metabolic conditions characterised by increased circulating serum bile acid and lipid levels. In this study we hypothesised that paternal cholestasis alters disease susceptibility in the offspring.Methods: ...

Introduction: Lipid abnormalities are very common among HIV patients particularly those on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART). Infection with HIV causes decline in HDL cholesterol and a raise in triglyceride. Treatment with HAART causes Dyslipidaemia in a variety of ways.Aims: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with Dyslipidaemia among HAART naïve and HAART exposed HIV patients.Methodology: Three hund...

Introduction: Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is more common in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). There is paucity of data regarding the impact of OSA in women with PCOS.Methods: We conducted a retrospective study using electronic patients’ records of premenopausal women with PCOS who were first seen in the weight management clinic (WMC) between March/2008 and November/2014. PCOS diagnosis was documented either by referring clinician or es...

Although the effect of aging on adipose tissue metabolism have been thoroughly studied for years, changes in the antilipolytic action of insulin in visceral white adipose tissue from aged rats are still not completely understood. By fact, some contradictory data on the inhibition of isoproterenol-induced lipolysis by insulin with aging have been reported. As aging is a significant risk factor for increasing adiposity and the development of obesity, we hypothesized that the inh...

A decline in skeletal muscle nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) can decrease mitochondrial function and energy metabolism in age-related metabolic disease. Restoration of NAD+ using the precursor nicotinamide riboside (NR) may serve to support age and disease driven impairment of mitochondrial energy metabolism. Manipulating NAD+, and consequently cellular pyridine nucleotide NAD(P)(H) pools, may impact the flux of glucose through intermediary energy metabolism pathways....

Background: Evidences show that maternal vitaminB12 deficiency at periods of development influence metabolic status and degree of metabolic syndrome of the offspring into adulthood. VitaminB12 is required for the synthesis of methionine, which is the precursor of S-adenosyl-methionine, a key methyl donor for DNA methylation. So vitaminB12 deficiency might cause methylation changes, which are thought to alter gene expression of regulatory factors and could result in adverse met...

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) levels increase during metabolic stress, which acts as a consumed substrate by, amongst other proteins, the sirtuins, which adapt transcriptional programmes to increase energy availability and regulate insulin sensitivity. Thus, maintaining appropriate skeletal muscle NAD+ availability is critical for regulating systemic energy homeostasis. In order to gain better insight into ageing muscle NAD+ dynamics we used ta...

Background: Maternal high fat diet (HFD) exposure is thought to perturb offspring metabolism, however the literature on experimental animal studies is inconsistent.Objectives: (i) In experimental studies, appraise data regarding metabolic parameters in offspring of mothers who consumed a HFD, (ii) assess possible predictors for these, and (iii) explore the quality of the evidence base.Methods: Searches were performed in four electr...

Background: In obesity, excess nutrients can disrupt protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) which activates the unfolded protein response (UPR) and alters mitochondrial function. These changes can induce inflammation, oxidative stress and insulin resistance. The aim of the study was to investigate whether broccoli extract can protect against cellular damage in human adipocytes, which with mathematical modelling may help predict pathway response.<p class="abstext...

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are widely prescribed to treat a number of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. However, patients receiving GCs often develop adverse metabolic effects such as hyperphagia leading to weight gain and hyperglycaemia. Little is known about the central effects of GCs; however they can act in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC), a region involved in the integration of other energy regulatory hormones such as leptin, insulin and ghrelin. Therefore, the ai...

Background: The pathogenesis of obesity and T2DM mediates mitochondrial dysfunction which, in part, may arise as a consequence of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. However, the potential impact of ER stress on mitochondria dysfunction is unclear. Therefore, we investigated whether induction of ER stress contributes to mitochondrial dysfunction in human adipocytes using 1) human differentiated adipocyte cell line (Chub-S7, n=12); and 2) primary differentiated lean and...

Turner syndrome (TS) affects over 15,000 females in the UK and is defined by the loss of X chromosome material. In the setting of an adult clinic we can observe adverse outcomes and determine their risk factors. For instance women with TS have an excess risk of hypertension, diabetes, fatty liver and osteoporosis. The Turner Syndrome Life Course Project at UCLH has collected data from over 750 women with TS over 20 years. Here we report the influence of weight on these outcome...

Introduction: Bariatric surgery is now a common surgical procedure for weight management recommended by NICE. Complications such as dumping syndrome, micronutrient deficiencies are well documented in the literature. Here we discuss a lesser reported complication of adrenal insufficiency and its management in five patients following gastric bypass surgery.Case reports: All patients presented with one or more of the following symptoms: sweating, anxiety, w...

High protein diets suppress appetite, but are difficult to adhere to. Understanding how the gut senses protein may identify mechanisms to drive satiety. Amino acid products of protein digestion are thought to be sensed by G protein coupled receptors in the gut, including the calcium sensing receptor (CaSR). Calcium ions are the major ligand of the CaSR, but aromatic amino acids, particularly L-phenylalanine (L-Phe), allosterically modulate CaSR activity....

This study was performed to investigate the effects of LY2405319, an analogue of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), on glucose homeostasis in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced insulin-deficient mice. Nine-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were administered a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (150 mg/kg). One week later, after confirmation of hyperglycaemia, saline or LY2405319 (5 mg/kg) was injected subcutaneously daily for 4 weeks. The STZ-induced diabetic mice had elevated bloo...

Acylation stimulating protein (ASP) synthesis occurs through the interaction between complement C3, factor B and adipsin in adipose tissue. ASP demonstrates potent lipogenic effects that are modulated by sex hormones in vivo and in vitro. In this study, an ex vivo investigation was carried out to analyse expression of genes related to ASP production and function. Adipose tissue was harvested from ovariectomized rats (n=6), and treated with s...

Context: There is growing evidence that cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB-1) blockade reduces inflammation and neovascularization by decreasing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels associated with a reduction in inflammatory markers, thereby potentially reducing cardiovascular risk.Objective: To determine the impact of CB1 antagonism by rimonabant on VEGF and inflammatory markers in obese PCOS women.Design: Randomised, open-la...