Endocrine Abstracts

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is the most common cause of the ectopic ACTH syndrome and is characterised by rapid growth and poor prognosis. In the ectopic ACTH syndrome, tumours secrete highly elevated levels of the ACTH precursor, proopiomelanocortin (POMC), compared to ACTH itself (Oliver 2003). This study aimed to develop a mouse model of SCLC capable of secreting high levels of POMC and correlate this with viable tumour mass to assess POMC as a potential biomarker.<p ...

Background: Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) arise from neuroendocrine cells, they are commonly found in the pancreas, small bowel and lung. They are a heterogeneous group of tumours capable of secreting a variety of hormones, therefore the spectrum of symptoms is broad. Treatment options for metastatic NETs include cytoreductive surgery, or interventional radiology procedures such as transarterial embolization (TAE). Aims: Previous studies have shown that ...

Background: Individuals with hypoparathyroidism often experience a range of symptoms associated with reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and work productivity. Conventional therapy aims to alleviate hypocalcemia and acute symptoms but fails to restore normal parathyroid hormone (PTH) physiology or improve HRQoL. In the PaTHway trial, 79% of participants treated with TransCon PTH vs. 5% placebo (P<0.0001) met the primary efficacy endpoint (normal serum c...

Hypoparathyroidism is an endocrine disease caused by insufficient levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Individuals with chronic hypoparathyroidism managed with conventional therapy (active vitamin D and calcium) are at increased risk for renal complications and declines in renal function. In clinical trials, palopegteriparatide treatment enabled independence from conventional therapy (no active vitamin D and ≤600 mg/day elemental calcium) and maintained serum biochemistr...

The aim of this study was to determine if a change in the amount of fat consumed in the diet influenced female salivary postprandial testosterone and cortisol concentrations and whether any changes affected circadian rhythm.The study was conducted on 9 healthy female subjects aged 21–45 years (BMI mean=22.5±1.61) and has been approved by the University College Ethical Committee. Over 3 non-consecutive days, each subject consumed 2 meals, lunch...

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)is present, predominantly in latent forms, in normal and malignant breast tissue. The mechanisms by which TGF-beta is activated physiologically remain largely an enigma. The aim of this study was to assess whether the proteases, cathepsin D and PSA could activate latent TGF-beta 1 and 2 in the MCF-7 hormone responsive and MDA-MB-231 hormone unresponsive human breast cancer cell lines. For the experiments, 1 x 106cells were s...

Corpus luteum lifespan is regulated by the secretion of prostaglandins (PGF and PGE) from the endometrium. which are synthesized by cyclo-oxygenase 2 (COX-2). However. corpus luteum lifespan is altered by uterine bacterial infections. causing infertility. Uterine infection is common after parturition in cattle. often involving Escherichia coli. The pathogenic ligand of E. coli. lipopolysaccharide (LPS). is detected by Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR4). predominantly fo...

Late night salivary cortisol measurements have been increasingly used as an initial diagnostic test for the evaluation of patients with a clinical suspicion of Cushing syndrome (CS). Published studies include varying numbers of cases and controls and importantly various assay methods (usually immunoassays), as well as various methods of generating normative values.Materials and methods: We examined the diagnostic utility of salivary cortisol measurement ...

Objective: A young woman presented with marked hyperparathyroidism with post-operative course complicated by hungry bone syndrome and diagnostic and management challenges of ongoing hypocalcaemia with hyperparathyroidism.Method: ML, a 32-year-old Fijian Indian female, was referred with severe hypercalcaemia, following one-year history of migratory debilitating bone pain. Initial labs showed corrected calcium (C.Ca) 3.17 [2.10–2.60 mmol/l], parathyro...

Background: Pulmonary-NETs are classified in low-grade typical carcinoid (TC), intermediate-grade atypical carcinoid (AC), and high-grade large cell carcinoma (LCNEC) and small cell carcinoma (SCLC). However, the proportion of pulmonary-NETs with similar histology that behave quite differently is not negligible. Recent studies favour the use of the proliferation marker Ki67.Aim: To evaluate the utility of Ki67 for predicting metastasis in a cohort of pat...