Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: The insulin tolerance test (ITT) is considered the gold standard test in assessing the integrity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. The aim of this study is to evaluate if the 0900 h cortisol levels can be predictive of the patient’s response to hypoglycaemia, minimizing the use of the ITT as it is labour, intensive and unpleasant for the patient.Methods: This is a retrospective study of 110 ITTs performed at the Endocr...

One in five people in the UK is affected by lung disease, along with millions more worldwide. Glucocorticoids represent the most utilized anti-inflammatory therapy for the treatment of pulmonary inflammation, however a subset of patients exist which do not respond to therapeutically relevant doses.The non-ciliated bronchial epithelial (Clara) cells have been identified as key mediators of the pulmonary inflammatory response. The glucocorticoid receptor (...

Background: Hyperthyroidism affects 1.3% of the population. The antithyroid drugs (ATD), carbimazole and propylthiouracil, can induce agranulocytosis, a rare but potentially life threatening side-effect with a prevalence of 0.10–0.15%. We assessed the adequacy of our patient’s knowledge of this side-effect.Methods: Patients on ATD completed a questionnaire before attending clinic. The questionnaire consisted of nine questions detailing informat...

A 27 year old lady presented in 2016 with a 3 month history of intermittent headache and visual disturbance, 3.5 months post-partum. She had a past medical history of cluster headache; treated with verapamil and short courses of oral steroids (she had no recent steroid courses prior to presentation). She was found to have a partial right sixth nerve palsy but normal visual fields on Goldmann’s testing. She had biochemical evidence of secondary adrenal insufficiency (sodi...

Introduction: The corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) family of neuropeptides and their receptors affect innate immunity. A fully working peripheral CRF system is present in adipose tissue. In obesity, macrophages and adipocytes interact causing local and systemic inflammation. In addition, macrophages and adipocytes share common characteristics including production of inflammatory cytokines in response to lipopolysaccharides (LPS) via the toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) which b...

Obesity, the condition resulting from excess of body fat, is often accompanied by chronic low-grade levels of inflammation. These have been strongly associated with the development of insulin resistance (IR). Elevated BMI has also been linked to reduced cognitive performance, especially in executive functions, independently of medical co-morbidities.Aim of this research is to investigate whether higher cognitive resources may present a moderating, ‘...

Introduction: Obesity lowers adiponectin levels. Adiponectin has anti-inflammatory effects. It has been suggested that the lower levels of adiponectin in obesity results in chronic low grade inflammation (CLGI). Aim of this study was to examine if plasma adiponectin is a valid marker of CLGI in normal weight, overweight and obese individuals. In addition, we also assessed adiponectin as marker of body fat and insulin resistanceMethods: We measured adipon...

Background: Subclinical hypothyroidism is common in pregnancy affecting about 5% of all pregnant women, and is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. There is a general consensus that subclinical hypothyroidism detected during pregnancy should be treated with L-thyroxine (Stagnaro-green et al. 2011, DeGroot et al. 2012). However, it is unclear whether the treatment should be limited only during the pregnancy or continued long-term. Therefo...

Adiponectin, an exclusive adipose-derived hormone, circulates at high concentration, and exerts metabolic effects. Adiponectin levels in the circulation correlate negatively with BMI, and low adiponectin concentrations are associated with the low grade inflammation and metabolic dysfunction that accompanies obesity. Adiponectin has been reported to have potent anti-inflammatory activities, and to exert these effects by regulating macrophage function. The mechanism of adiponect...

Introduction: 85% of cases of primary hyperparathyroidism are caused by a parathyroid adenoma. These are usually small in size, in the range of 70 mg to 1 g. Those weighing more than 2 g are classified as ‘giant adenomas’. Few adenomas weighing more than 30 g have been described in the literature. Here we present one such case.Case report: A 52-year-old female presenting with lethargy was found to have a corrected calcium of 3.15 mmol/l with a ...