Endocrine Abstracts

Hypothyroidism is the most frequent innate endocrine disorder, reaching a prevalence of 1 in 1200 newborns. Defects causing hypothyroidism occur at any level of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis, but also at peripheral tissues, where alterations of intracellular transport, deiodination or nuclear action of thyroid hormone have been described in humans.In recent decades, molecular research found evidence that hypothyroidism is a genetic disease. Def...

In recent years technological and analytical advances have led to an explosion in the discovery of genetic loci associated with type 2 diabetes. However, their ability to improve prediction of disease outcomes beyond standard clinical risk factors has been limited. On the other hand, genetic effects on drug response may be stronger than those commonly seen for disease incidence. Pharmacogenetic findings may help to uncover new drug targets, illuminate pathophysiology, clarify ...

Background: Obesity, resulting from complex interactions between genetic and non-genetic factors, is one the most pressing health challenges in our society. Current treatments for losing weight based mainly on diet and exercise are mostly unsuccessful in the long term. Therefore, as an alternative to the current strategy of one-size-fits-all, a more individualized approach is proposed in which genotype data are used to personalize treatment and to optimize the results.<p c...

Growth hormone (GH) responsive cells are extensively distributed in the brain, including in neurons of the arcuate nucleus (ARH) and ventromedial nucleus (VMH) of the hypothalamus, areas that control food intake, energy expenditure and blood glucose levels. However, the functional role of central GH signaling for energy and glucose homeostasis has not been unveiled yet. We generated mice lacking GH receptor (GHR) in multiple neuronal populations to investigate whether central ...

Levels of TSH respond to fluctuations in serum free T(4) (fT(4)) and remain in a very narrow individual range. There exists current controversy regarding the upper limit of normal serum TSH values above which treatment should be indicated. In a cohort of healthy men from the general population, both serum TSH and fT(4).TSH product were positively associated with fasting and postload insulin concentration and negatively with insulin sensitivity.It was concluded that thyroid fun...

Background: HDL is a plasma lipid-protein complex of lipids and alphalipoproteins (apolipoproteins A-I and A-II). It is involved in reverse transport of cholesterol from peripheral tissue to liver, allowing cholesterol degradation. HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels are inversely associated with cardiovascular risk. HDL-C levels can be elevated due to genetic causes or drugs. We present a case where significantly raised HDL levels caused some concern at the outset.<p class="ab...

Background: The prevalence of incidental pituitary adenoma is estimated between 10 and 20% in autopsy and radiological data. Such pituitary incidentalomas are increasingly detected, as access to sensitive imaging modalities improves. We present a review of the recent pituitary incidentaloma referrals at a tertiary centre during 2 years from January 2013.Methods: All patients with pituitary incidentalomas on brain imaging between 2013 and 2015 were review...

Current knowledge supports the notion that the onset and progression of endocrine and age-related diseases depend on an individual’s metabolic flexibility. With respect to cardiometabolic diseases, especially in older persons, several factors act in concert and converge to challenge metabolic flexibility. These include an inadequate diet, insufficient physical activity, chronodisruption, decreased metabolic reserve, altered gut microbiome, and reduced immune system capaci...

Introduction: While there is no consensus about population screening for hypothyroidism there is compelling evidence to support case-finding for hypothyroidism in those with autoinmune disease, such as type 1 diabetic patients. The present study has been made to estimate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in type 2 diabetic patients. In the British Whickham survey 9.3% of women and 1.2% of men had serum TSH values over 10 μIU/ml. The Colorado thyroid disease prevalence...

Objective: Thiazolidinedione (glitazone) (GLT) use was reported to increase frequency of fractures by the ADOPT study. Investigation of this discovery is the aim of the present work.Materials and methods: The patients and their clinical histories were examined when each ambulatory patient was personally visited by the author, for 6 months: 108 males and 160 females were seen. The GLT group was compared with the OAD and insulin user group. Moreover, the r...