Endocrine Abstracts

The possibility of optimal testosterone replacement is hotly debated. Conventional testosterone ester injections give widely fluctuating testosterone levels and may be painful. Testosterone patches currently available in the UK frequently cause intolerable skin irritation and are conspicuously large. The only safe oral preparation testosterone undecanoate rarely provides sustained sufficient circulating testosterone concentrations. Testosterone pellets have been used since sho...

Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is used for the long-term management of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Hemoglobin variants other than HbA1c and e-N-lysine-glycated HbA0 may cause analytical interference in determinations of HbA1c. Hemoglobin J is an abnormal hemoglobin, an alpha globin gene variant and present in various geographic locations. Hemoglobin J (depending on its type) has different characteristics and functions. For example hemoglobin J Capetown (α2 92Gln β2...

Objective: To investigate the results of J – 131 treatments in patients (pts) with autonomous thyroid adenomas in long period of follow up.Material and Methods: We enrolled 68 consecutive pts with Plummer’s disease (50 females, 18 males, mean age 54,7 yrs, range 21 – 79 yrs) for period 2000 – 2020 yrs. 87%(59/68) pts had a unifocal nodule, while 13% (9/68) pts had multifocal toxic autonomous nodules. Pts stopped antithyroid drugs for ...

Growth hormone replacement has not been recommended for use during pregnancy, due to lack of controlled trials to study its effects on the mother and the baby. We present a patient with hypopitiutarism on rhGH replacement which was continued during pregnancy with no adverse effects.A 35 years old lady, diagnosed ages 30 with pan-hypopituitarism secondary to non-functioning pituitary adenoma, she underwent trans-sphenoidal resection of the adenoma in 2002...

Nebido (testosterone undecanoate, 1000 mg) is a new, long acting, intramuscular (IM) preparation of testosterone (T) that can be administered every 10–14 weeks. We conducted a study to evaluate the factors that influence serum T levels after commencing Nebido and may therefore help clinicians estimate dosing frequency for this therapy.Following the recommended loading regimen, 51 hypogonadal men (35, 68.6% secondary hypogonadism) had two injections ...

It is important when initiating intramuscular Nebido (testosterone undecanoate) to monitor the serum testosterone level to ensure physiological replacement is achieved. Following a loading regimen of Nebido the manufacturer recommends measuring testosterone levels to determine the frequency of subsequent injections.We conducted a retrospective study of 36 hypogonadal men [12 (33%) primary hypogonadism, 24 (67%) secondary hypogonadism] to establish what f...

There are a number of symptomatic patients with hypothyroidism who fail to normalise thyroid function (TFTs) despite large doses of thyroxine (LT4) replacement. Non-compliance is a common cause of treatment failure even in patients who strongly deny this. To avoid unnecessary and prolonged investigations for other causes we advocate a simple protocol to manage this problem. Patients are observed taking 1000 mcg of LT4 at 09.00 hrs, and have hourly Free T4 and TSH levels measur...

J J Kopchick, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA. AbstractDr John J Kopchick is an internationally recognized leader in the growth hormone (GH) field. Since 1987, he has held the Milton and Lawrence H Goll Eminent Scholar Professorship in Molecular and Cellular Biology and directs the Growth/Obesity/Diabetes Section of the Edison Biotechnology Institute at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. He also is Professor in the B...

Oncogenic activation of MAPK in thyroid cells leads to loss of expression of genes required for thyroid hormone biosynthesis, including the sodium iodide transporter (NIS) and thyroid peroxidase (TPO). Tumors with BRAF mutation have lower expression of NIS, explaining in part why BRAF-mutant PTCs are often resistant to RAI therapy. We developed mouse models of thyroid cancer driven by BRAFV600E, and these tumors also lose the ability to concentrate radioiodine, whic...

J Wass, Department of Endocrinology, OCDEM, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK AbstractJohn Wass is the Professor of Endocrinology at Oxford University and Head of the Department of Endocrinology at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Churchill Hospital Oxford, UK. He qualified at Guy’s in 1971 and did his endocrine training at Bart’s. He got his MD from the University of London in 1980....