Endocrine Abstracts

Alstrom syndrome is an autosomal recessive ciliopathy that is characterised by increased body mass index, type 2 diabetes, retinal dystrophy, sensorineural hearing loss, cardiac fibrosis, and chronic kidney disease. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Alstrom patients ranges from simple steatosis, steatohepatitis and ultimately to fibrosis and cirrhosis. Nafld fibrosis score (http://nalfdscore.com/), enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF)-panel blood tests and Fibroscans are n...

Glucocorticoid (GC) excess, Cushing’s syndrome, is characterized by central obesity, proximal myopathy, insulin resistance and potentially type 2 diabetes mellitus. Current dogma dictates that GCs cause insulin resistance across all tissues. We have previously demonstrated that GCs cause insulin sensitization of human adipose tissue in vitro, whilst inducing insulin resistance in human skeletal muscle. No prior study has evaluated whether these observations transla...

Evidence-based clinical guidelines in Endocrinology attempt to improve and standardise patient care. There has been an expansion in guideline production although some of the heterogeneous methods used to assess the underlying evidence base may limit interpretation and implementation. Current and archived guidelines from The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), The Endocrine Society (ES), The American Thyroid Association, The British Thyroid Association and...

Background and aims: 5α reductase 1 and 2 (SRD5A1 (expressed in liver and adipose), SRD5A2 (expressed in liver) inactivate cortisol to 5α-dihydrocortisol in addition to their role in the generation of dihydrotestosterone and therefore regulate the tissue availability of cortisol. Dutasteride (dual SRD5A1 and SRD5A2 inhibitor) and Finasteride (selective SRD5A2 inhibitor) are commonly prescribed, but their potential metabolic effects have only recently been identified....