Endocrine Abstracts

The anterior pituitary gland is a critical endocrine organ responsible for many important physiological processes including puberty, fertility, metabolism and the stress response. It is derived from, and maintained by, a population of SOX2+ progenitor/stem cells which become more quiescent with age until their direct contribution to tissue turnover becomes negligible. Previous research has demonstrated that the postnatal SOX2+ population exhibits heterogeneity in terms of mark...

Overweight and obesity is an escalating global health problem, affecting 40% of the population and being the 5th largest cause of death worldwide. Treatment options are limited, with pharmaceutical approaches being inadequate and the success of bariatric surgery being limited by its invasive nature. The regulation of appetite by small bioactive compounds in the gastrointestinal tract is an important target in antiobesity research. Metabolites from diet and both host and microb...

Background: Growing evidence suggests that hypothalamic lipid sensing plays a key role in controlling food intake, fat deposition and energy balance and that its dysregulation could lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Recent investigations reported that sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is involved in the hypothalamic control of energy homeostasis. Intra-cerebroventricular administration of S1P decreased food intake and increased energy expenditure in rodents.<p class="...

Chemerin is a newly discovered chemoattractant adipokine and is a natural ligand for the G protein coupled receptor CMKLR1. Its role in the regulation of energy metabolism and inflammation makes it a promising candidate for urgently needed pharmacological treatment strategies for obesity. To demonstrate a central role of chemerin, we manipulated chemerin signalling in the arcuate nucleus, a specific hypothalamic region associated with appetite regulation. We designed a short-h...

Background: Dexamethasone significantly improved outcomes in patients requiring supplementary oxygen and in ventilated patients with COVID-19 in the RECOVERY trial. Consequently, dexamethasone is now routinely used in these patients. However, dysglycaemia is commonly associated with steroid use and is an established risk factor for poorer outcomes in COVID-19. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the effect of dexamethasone use in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in a real-...

Introduction: Post-surgical hypoparathyroidism (PoSH) is common after thyroidectomy. Most cases recover within 6 months, but several require long-term supplementation with calcium and activated vitamin D. When PoSH persists beyond 6 months, it is considered to be ‘long-term’ or ‘permanent’. However, few studies have demonstrated recovery beyond this time period.Aim: Aim of this study is to determine the frequency of late recovery in t...

Individuals with chronic hypoparathyroidism sometimes receive suboptimal care with high frequency of unplanned hospitalisation and iatrogenic harm. In 2015 the European Society for Endocrinology published evidence base consensus guidelines on the management of chronic hypoparathyroidism. Using these consensus recommendations as audit standards we worked with the Society for Endocrinology and Parathyroid UK to conduct a national audit of management of chronic hypoparathyroidism...

Background: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of respiratory infections, including Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). We assessed vitamin D levels of patients who died from COVID-19 during or following admission to Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals.Methods: We performed a retrospective survey of electronic patient records for 2,355 patients admitted to our institution between 04/02/2020 and 19/01/2021, who had a positive...

Approximately 70% of clinical laboratories in the United Kingdom use assays from Abbott Laboratories and Roche Diagnostics. We carried out a cross-sectional study between two neighbouring hospital laboratories in our regional pathology network, comparing the potential impact of Abbott and Roche PTH and calcium assays in the diagnosis of normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism. Over 4 months, forty-one vitamin D replete (>50 nmol/l) normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism patients (3...

Gallium68-Dotatate PET-CT is a somatostatin-receptor (SSTR) based imaging modality employed in the diagnosis and follow-up of Neuroendocrine Tumours (NET). We set out to investigate the incidence of incidental findings, some of which are related to SSTR expression, in our NET patient cohort in Oxford University Hospital. Sixty-eight patients underwent Gallium68-Dotatate PET-CT between June 2020 and June 2021. 40 patients (59%) were female, and median age ...