Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Adipocytes have been shown to exhibit considerable heterogeneity. In humans, they vary in size from <20 to 300 µm in diameter, which equates to a several hundred-fold difference in cell volume within the same tissue. Population based studies indicate larger adipocytes are associated with metabolic diseases, but how cell size is related to metabolism is poorly understood. Recent studies measured glucose levels in individual cells in cultu...

Amongst the different markers of ovarian function, AMH levels and antral follicle count (AFC) are the most objective and reliable predictors of ovarian response in women undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Several factors, that have been reported to interfere with ovarian response, are taken into consideration when enrolling women into an IVF programme.The aim of this prospective study was to determine the correlation, if any, between baseline AMH l...

The fusion of insulin-stimulated GLUT4-containing vesicles (GSV) with the plasma membrane (PM) of adipose or skeletal muscle cells is governed by regulated exocytosis. In all such membrane fusion events cognate t- and v-SNAREs interact in an ordered way to allow vesicles to first dock with, and then fuse with the plasmalemma. In neurons, the best-studied example of this well conserved process, the protein species responsible for directing the final (rate-limiting) fusion step ...

Two medical therapies are now available for the treatment of acromegaly. Pegvisomant is a growth hormone (GH) receptor antagonist. Somatostatin analogues, in contrast, act by inhibiting the release of GH from the pituitary. The primary objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of pegvisomant (P) to that of octreotide LAR (LAR) in terms of IGF-1 normalisation. The secondary objective was to compare safety and tolerability between the two treatments.<p class="abste...

AFC is related to ovarian function and outcome in assisted reproduction programmes. Current regimens for ovulation induction consider patient age to determine initial FSH dose and may exclude patients from treatment when FSH is high. Increased BMI is also an indication to defer treatment. We aimed to investigate the relationship between AFC and other predictors of ovarian response in candidates for assisted conception.We studied 89 patients referred to a...

Background: Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) are heterogeneous cancers with varied survival, arising mainly from the gastroenteropancreatic tract. Delayed diagnosis and mislabelling are widely recognised internationally in midgut NETs with little data describing how to improve diagnosis times. In 2017, transformation of the South Wales NET Service included a change to a gastroenterology-led service model alongside education and forming working relationships with gastroenterologis...

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterised by parathyroid, anterior pituitary and pancreatic islet tumours. Primary hyperparathyroidism is the first clinical manifestation in >85% of patients, although in some patients pancreatic and pituitary tumours may precede the occurrence of primary hyperparathyroidism. The earliest occurrence of MEN1-tumours has been reported at the age of 5 years following which the age-related penetr...