Endocrine Abstracts

Background and aim: It is often proposed that growth retardation in IBD is associated with a state of growth hormone resistance but published data on the GH-IGF1 axis are scarce. We describe the results of routine clinical assessment of this axis in a group of such children.Methods: A retrospective study of 24 children with IBD (22 CD, 2 UC) with growth retardation and/or pubertal delay who underwent insulin tolerance test (ITT) following referral to the...

Introduction: A multi-disciplinary endocrine Adolescent Transition Clinic (ATC), with key professionals from paediatric and adult services, was instituted at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, in October 2008 serving young people in the West of Scotland. A good transition should improve clinic attendance, health outcomes and quality of life into adulthood.Aim: To systematically review the success of ATC in engaging young people following thei...

Background: There have been a number of drivers that have led nurses to take on extended roles that have been traditionally been the domain of doctors. Competency frameworks for specialist nurses have been developed in other paediatric specialities, such as diabetes, oncology and epilepsy. However, this has not been established for paediatric endocrine nurses.Aim: To establish a competency framework for paediatric endocrine nurse specialists.<p class...

Men have a higher prevalence and risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) than age-matched women and this may, in part, be related to differences in fatty acid oxidation. Fasting and postprandial fatty acid oxidation was investigated in 11 healthy men and 11 healthy women matched for age (46±2 years vs 46±2 years (mean±S.E.M.)), BMI (28.0±1 vs 27.0±1 kg/m2) and liver fat content (3.4±0.9 vs 3.9±0.7%) measure...

Hepatic steatosis, accumulation of intracellular triglyceride (TG) (>5% of hepatic tissue), is the prerequisite for the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD represents a spectrum of liver diseases and is associated with obesity and obesity-related metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Steatosis occurs due to an imbalance between fatty acid input and removal (fatty acid partitioning) which can be affected by geneti...

The recent discovery of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in adult humans, which generates heat to maintain body temperature in a cold environment, offers an exciting new strategy to treat obesity and metabolic disease, but our knowledge of human BAT activation is limited. To identify novel pathways regulating human BAT, we undertook RNA sequencing of human brown and white adipocytes. The gene SLC6A4 (encoding the serotonin transporter SERT) was one of the most highly differ...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of metabolic disease. 5β-reductase (AKR1D1) is highly expressed in human liver where it inactivates steroid hormones and catalyzes a fundamental step in bile acid synthesis. Steroid hormones, including glucocorticoids, as well as bile acids are established regulators of metabolic phenotype. We hypothesized that AKR1D1 plays a crucial regulatory role in hepatic metabolic homeostasis. Genetic manipulatio...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the hepatic manifestation of metabolic disease. 5β-reductase (AKR1D1) is highly expressed in human and rodent liver where it inactivates steroid hormones and catalyzes a fundamental step in bile acid synthesis. Steroid hormones, including glucocorticoids, as well as bile acids are established regulators of metabolic phenotype. We have hypothesized that AKR1D1 plays a crucial regulatory role in hepatic metabolic homeostasis.<p class...

Introduction: Various models of transition are used to help engage and improve the health of young adults. Our transition clinic model: a multi-disciplinary endocrine Adolescent Transition Clinic (ATC), was instituted at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, in October 2008 serving young people in the West of Scotland. A good transition process should improve clinic attendance, health outcomes and quality of life into adulthood.Aim: To review th...

The measurement of serum testosterone in women is difficult with most automated immunoassays because of poor sensitivity, accuracy and precision at low concentrations. Mass spectrometry is the gold standard for these measurements but it is slower and requires special expertise and equipment. We investigated whether the modification of a commercial RIA allowed improved testosterone measurements in laboratories without access to mass spectrometry.A commerc...