Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Adipokines, such as resistin and fasting-induced adipose factor (FIAF), are implicated in the regulation of insulin sensitivity and regulated by nuclear receptors like peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), and retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα). Primarily expressed in murine fat, we also showed that these adipokines are expressed in the mouse hypothalamus, as well as in N-1 hypothalamic neurons. We hypothesized that rosiglitazone (R...

Introduction: We previously reported the novel finding that leptin, and several other fat-derived hormones (adipokines), is expressed and regulated in rat hypothalamus (1). Subsequently leptin (ob) mRNA was found in human, sheep and pig brain, but was surprisingly undetectable in mouse brain. In the present experiments we used a mouse hypothalamic neuronal cell line to investigate possible inhibitory mechanisms that may prevent mouse neurons from expressing ob mRNA. These incl...

Secondary hormonal deficiency (SHD) in sellar masses (SM) is thought to be partly due to compression of the portal vessels by the enlarging tumour restricting the blood supply to the normal pituitary tissue. However, to date no study has looked at the patterns of SHD in various types of SM and assessed if SHD is related solely to the size of SM or is associated with the underlying pathology. We assessed 914 patients with SM enrolled in our comprehensive pituitary registry sinc...

Patients with sellar masses (SM) undergoing transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) have a significant risk of transient or permanent endocrine dysfunction; therefore, in-hospital endocrinology consultation (IHEC) is recommended for these patients. However, routine assessment of all TSS patients by a specialized team is not feasible outside select centers. We developed an IHEC guide for TSS patients in December 2015 to identify those patients who would require perioperative IHEC. We con...

Background: Despite the widespread use of the 250-μg Cosyntropin test (ACTH test) for the diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency (AI), the effect of timing of the test on 30- vs. 60-min serum cortisol values remains unclear. Also, there is limited evidence comparing the value of performing both 30- and 60-min cortisol levels.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all ACTH tests conducted at the Halifax Neuropituitary Program, Nova Scotia,...

Secondary hormonal deficiency (SHD) is common in patients presenting with nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFA). NFA can either stain for various hormones or be non-hormone staining on immunocytochemistry. To date, no study has assessed the association between staining pattern of NFA and pattern of SHD at presentation. The Halifax Neuropituitary Program has been prospectively collecting comprehensive data on all neuropituitary patients in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada ...