Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: To determine if the endogenous estrogen 17beta-estradiol protected against oxidative stress-induced endothelial cell damage and the mechanism of this potential effect.Methods: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were isolated and cultured in phenol red free media with 2% charcoal-stripped serum. The following were undertaken (1) Cells were exposed to 0.1 to 1 nM 17beta-estradiol immediately prior to 100 μM hydrogen peroxide added for 24 hour...

Objectives: To analyse the outcome of 100 consecutive patients treated for thyrotoxicosis by total thyroidectomy, and compare the efficacy of this treatment modality to I131 therapy and thionamide therapy.Design: Data collected prospectively from a tertiary referral multidisciplinary thyroid clinic on 100 consecutive patients operated on for thyrotoxicosis by one thyroid surgeon. Patient demographics, reasons for selection of surgical treatmen...

BackgroundChronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating condition with high morbidity and associated reduced quality of life. There are data suggesting neuro-endocrine axis involvement in CFS including disturbance in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, growth hormone axis, opioidergic system and interactions with 5-Hydroxy Tryptamine (5-HT) system. Studies with selective 5-HT-releasing agents, using prolactin or cortisol responses to stimulation, fou...

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to compare the effect of metformin, orlistat and pioglitazone on insulin resistance in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome.Methods30 overweight PCOS women were recruited using the Rotterdam criteria (mean age (±S.E.M.) 26(±1.5)yrs and body mass index 35.9(±1.3) kg/m2). Fasting blood was collected at the same time each day on 10 c...

Background: Turner syndrome has well recognised cardiovascular complications that appear in up to 40% of the patients and are more common in monosomy X. Left sided obstructive lesions are relatively more frequent and predispose to aortic root dilatation and life threatening aortic dissection. Patients with bicuspid aortic valve, hypertension, coarctation and aortic stenosis are at high risk of aortic dilatation and dissection. Various follow up strategies are in use but there ...

Orlistat and Metformin have both been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), however, because Orlistat works by decreasing the absorption of dietary lipids, there is the potential to decrease absorption of lipophilic antioxidant substances with consequent decreased protection from oxidative stress. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the effect of treatment with orlistat vs. metformin on oxidative stress in pat...

Objectives: Conflicting data of the benefits of GH replacement improving psychological and physical well being is available, though open GH studies generally agree on an overall improvement. For growth hormone deficient patients to continue on therapy after evaluation there should be a 7 point improvement in their QoL-AGHDA, as documented in the NICE guidelines. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of 0.4 mg of GH on QoL in severe GH deficient patients in a double...

Objectives: There is strong epidemiological evidence that insulin resistance confers a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease independent of other cardiovascular risk factors. The aim of the study is to compare the insulin resistance levels in metabolic syndrome of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) with that of type 2 diabetes (T2DM).Methods: The biological variation of IR was assessed by measuring IR at four day intervals on 10 consecut...

The transient receptor potential canonical channels (TRPC) are a new family of Ca2+-permeable cationic channels controlling the Ca2+ influx response to the activation of the G-protein coupled receptor or the depletion of the internal Ca2+ store, which is related to the cellular signalling mechanisms of many hormones or growth factors. The role of TRPC channels in cancer development is still unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the expres...

Rationale: Octreotide is known to shrink acromegalic tumours in vivo. However, the mechanism for this is unclear. To investigate the mechanism of shrinkage we used dynamic contrast enhanced MR imaging (DCE-MRI) to visualise the vascular components within the somatotroph adenomas.Subjects & Methods: Six patients with confirmed acromegaly comprising 4 microadenomas (all male) and 2 macroadenomas (1 male, 1 female) were recruited. All patients we...