Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Glucagonomas are rare functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (p NETs), with an annual occurrence of 0.01 to 0.1 new cases per 100,000. Objective: We focused on presenting symptoms, primary’s size and location, presence of metastases, biomarkers at diagnosis, histology, response to first line treatment (clinical and biochemical), disease fee survival (DFS) and PFS (progression free survival). Methods: Eighteen pa...

Olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB) is a rare neuroendocrine tumour with a slow onset of symptoms, and classically a propensity for recurrence and a poor prognosis. Due to its rarity, there is no agreed standard therapy, but treatment will usually include surgical resection, adjuvant radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. However, such tumours very often show positive uptake on somatostatin receptor radionuclide scanning, and selective use of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) ...

In late pregnancy, the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is less responsive to immune challenge(1). Circulating and brain levels of allopregnanolone (AP), a neuroactive steroid and allosteric enhancer at inhibitory GABAA receptors, increase during pregnancy(2) and AP treatment attenuates stress-induced HPA activity in male rats(3). Here we sought a role for AP in attenuated HPA axis responses to interleukin-1-beta (IL-1B) in pregnant rats. Conscious pregnant (day 21) an...

Background: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a bone-related glycopeptide produced by vascular smooth muscle cells due to arterial damage. OPG is considered as an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease in diabetic populations.The aim of this study was to evaluate the interrelation between circulating OPG and coronary vasculature damage in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.Methods: One hundred and twenty six subjects with stable dia...

Background: Recent evidence has defined that circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) might have a pivotal role in the presence of atherosclerosis, chronically diseased vessels or following acute vascular injury. We hypothesized that diabetes mellitus (DM) may be related to worsening of ischemic chronic heart failure thereby suppression of mobilization of bone marrow-derived EPCs.The aim of this study was to evaluate predict value of circulating E...

Allopregnanolone (APα), a neurosteroid, significantly increased proliferation of rodent and human neural progenitor cells in vitro via GABA receptor channel and L-type channel mechanisms that activated the cell cycle. We subsequently investigated the efficacy of APα to promote neurogenesis in the hippocampal subgranular zone (SGZ), to reverse learning and memory deficits in the 3 month-old male triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s (3xTgAD). AP&#94...

A decade of study has conclusively shown that the reproductive hormone kisspeptin is a critical regulator of the HPG axis acting in the hypothalamus to control GnRH secretion. More recently, the role of kisspeptin outside the HPG axis has received increasing attention with the emergence of associations between kisspeptin, brain processing and behaviour. In this talk, I will provide evidence from studies in rodents to humans, that collectively demonstrate that kisspeptin can in...

A decade of study has conclusively shown that the reproductive hormone kisspeptin is a critical regulator of the HPG axis acting in the hypothalamus to control GnRH secretion. More recently, the role of kisspeptin outside the HPG axis has received increasing attention with the emergence of associations between kisspeptin, brain processing and behaviour. In this talk, I will provide evidence from studies in rodents to humans, that collectively demonstrate that kisspeptin can in...

We are the first who studied the control and the role of transcription factors in the regulation of reproductive functions. Our presentation represents a short review of original data concerning external (temperature, calories restriction) and internal (hormones, protein kinases, RNA interference) in control of selected transcription factors (p53, NFkB, STAT1, CREB1), as well as their role in control of basic ovarian cell functions (proliferation, apoptosis, secretory activity...

Hypothyroidism in pregnancy is generally considered harmful. However, the definition of hypothyroid during pregnancy remains controversial. Measurements of maternal serum TSH have traditionally been used to define hypothyroidism, with values >2.5 mIU/l generally warranting treatment. However, recent data have suggested that the ‘normal’ reference range for serum TSH in healthy pregnant women varies by region as well as by ethnicity. Importantly, changing the uppe...