Endocrine Abstracts

Seventy percent of menopausal women experience vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes/night sweats), which can be highly disruptive and persist for years; 10% describe them as intolerable. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and other available treatments have variable efficacy and/or side effects. A novel therapeutic could therefore benefit 10 million in the UK alone, and particularly those who have a contraindication or aversion to HRT. Neurokinin B signalling is upregulated in menop...

In women, establishment of pregnancy is dependent upon ‘fine-tuning’ of the endometrial microenvironment which is mediated by differentiation (decidualisation) of human endometrial stromal fibroblasts (hESF). Using a robust in vitro model of decidualisation we have demonstrated an important role for local steroid metabolism in regulating hESF, something previously considered a solely endocrine-mediated process. We have conducted detailed time-course profilin...