Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Smoking harms women more than men and women seem to be less successful in quitting. Greater concerns about post-cessational weight in women and gender differences in craving and reward processing have been postulated as possible explanations. Our group recently showed that the GLP-1 analogue dulaglutide reduces post-cessational weight gain. We hypothesize that women compared to men might profit more from the weight-lowering effects of dulaglutide in terms of abst...

Introduction: Alcohol use disorder AUD causes high socio-economic costs and has a detrimental impact on health globally, being considered a key risk factor for non-communicable diseases. In Switzerland, four substances are currently approved for treatment of AUD, with varying effects. Taking into consideration the complex nature of the disease and the heterogeneity of affect patients, it becomes evident that there is need for new treatment targets. A body of preclinical studie...

Andrea Dunaif, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, United States. AbstractDr Dunaif received her MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, trained in New York and Boston and rose to rank of Associate Professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Since 1992 Dr Dunaif has held posts at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as Director of Women’s Health and Chief of the...

Objective: Smoking is an established major risk for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular mortality. However, the impact of smoking cessation on blood pressure remains controversial. Despite strong evidence linking smoking cessation to reduced cardiovascular risk, conflicting studies suggest potential increases in blood pressure after smoking cessation. Post cessational weight gain may contribute to these confliciting findings. We have recently shown that the glucagon-like peptid...

Background: Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of premature death. Smoking cessation is one of the central goals in medicine, but despite dedicated programs, quit rates remain low due to barriers such as nicotine withdrawal syndrome or post-cessation weight gain. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues reduce energy intake and body weight and seem to modulate addictive behavior. These GLP-1 properties are of major interest in the context of smoking cessation....

Introduction: The Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (SIADH) is the predominant cause of hyponatremia and its therapy options are unsatisfying. SGLT2-inhibitors have become a valuable treatment option for type 2 diabetes by increasing glucose excretion in the urine with concomitant osmotic diuresis. We therefore hypothesized that SGLT2-inhibitors could be a novel treatment option for SIADH.Material and methods: We included 14 healthy volunteers in th...

Context: Glucocorticoids (GC) mediate some of the adverse health-related consequences of circadian misalignment, such occurs in shift workers who have an increased cardio-metabolic, immune and cancer risk. Investigating the effect of circadian cortisol exposure in patients with GC excess and defect is crucial. In a therapeutic perspective large attention has been given to the total daily GC exposure, much less to the timing-of-the-day relative exposure. Clock genes are essenti...

Background: Bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) comprises >10% of total adipose mass in healthy humans and further increases during caloric restriction (CR). However, BMAT function during CR and other conditions remains poorly understood. Circulating glucocorticoids also increase during CR, and glucocorticoid therapy increases BMAT; thus, we hypothesise that glucocorticoid excess mediates BMAT expansion during CR. Many effects of endogenous glucocor...

A sparse population of a few hundred primarily hypothalamic neurons forms the hub of a complex neuroglial network that controls reproduction in mammals by secreting the ‘master molecule’, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Both the Kisspeptin input on GnRH neurons and timely changes in GnRH expression are necessary for the onset of puberty. However, the exact molecular mechanisms underlying this process remain elusive. Here, we report that a dramatic inversion in...

The antitumor properties of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), with respect to both cancer prevention and therapy, have raised considerable interest in the last two decades, leading to well consolidated evidences in gastrointestinal cancers, especially colorectal cancer. NSAID action has been proposed to occur through two independent modes: a COX-dependent one, mainly involving the inhibition of COX-2-mediated PGE2 production, and a COX-independent one, mainly inv...