Endocrine Abstracts

25–30% of normotensive people have salt-sensitive blood pressure, which is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality. The underlying mechanisms are not clear but impaired renal salt excretion and vascular (endothelial) dysfunction are currently viewed as important processes for salt-sensitivity.To add complexity, non-modulation of the hierarchical control systems that regulate renal and vascular function are critical to the development...

25–30% of normotensive people have salt-sensitive blood pressure, which is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality. The underlying mechanisms are not clear but impaired renal salt excretion and vascular (endothelial) dysfunction are currently viewed as important processes for salt-sensitivity.To add complexity, non-modulation of the hierarchical control systems that regulate renal and vascular function are critical to the development...

Introduction: We sought to the impact of an out of hours telephone advice service for children and young people with diabetes mellitus on Emergency Department attendance rates.Methods: In July 2014 we commenced a collaborative service for 240 patients with diabetes across two Paediatric diabetes centres- Croydon University Hospital (CUH) and St George’s University Hospital, London. Paediatric diabetes specialist nurses and consultants in Paediatric ...

Glucocorticoids synchronise peripheral clocks with the master clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the brain. In humans and mice, abnormal glucocorticoid rhythms induce blood pressure abnormalities accompanied by vascular dysfunction. The mechanisms of this remain unclear. We hypothesise that excessive activation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) disrupts circadian clock signalling, altering vascular function and inducing non-dipping blood pressure. We characterise the va...

An 87 year old lady with a background of longstanding cognitive impairment was referred to our service with biochemical evidence of primary hyperparathyroidism. The patient had past medical history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, hypothyroidism, ischaemic heart disease and primary hyperparathyroidism (under observation in a neighbouring health board). There was no pharmacological cause for cognitive impairment identified. Following acute admission after a fall with ...

Increased intake of sodium is postulated to be controlled by aldosterone-sensitive cells in a select region of the adult mouse brain, the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS). These cells express the enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (HSD2) which inactivates glucocorticoids, allowing selective activation of mineralocorticoid receptors by aldosterone. However in the developing brain, HSD2 is widely expressed to protect against adverse glucocorticoid action, whi...

We investigated ACTH-induced hypertension in mice by studying renal function in vivo and by analysing renal gene expression by microarray and RT PCR methods. During two weeks sc infusion with Synacthen, mean blood pressure in adult male mice increased (89±5 vs 110±2 mmHg), and plasma corticosterone, adrenal weights and drinking rate increased by 5, 2 and 2.5-fold respectively (P<0.01); renal mass was unaffected. Greater mineralocorticoid activity wa...

Aldosterone and glucocorticoids stimulate sodium transport by the renal tubule, which is important for blood pressure homeostasis. Corticosteroid excess and/or abnormal steroid hormone activity within the kidney can cause hypertension. Circulatory and urinary steroid concentrations can be measured routinely but steroid concentrations at a tissue and cellular level are largely unknown, and the kidney remains a “black box”. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) permits local...

Blood pressure homeostasis is regulated via renal sodium reabsorption by aldosterone and glucocorticoids, although the role of glucocorticoids is less clear. High-salt diets lead to suppression of aldosterone in plasma, but changes in available ligands for the mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors in kidney subregions are unknown. Hypothetically, high-salt intake modifies aldosterone and corticosterone amounts in specific kidney subregions. Kidney cryosections from ma...

Renal functions in a mouse model of Cushing’s Syndrome have been characterised by analysing RNA expression complemented by immunohistochemistry studies. A microarray of kidneys from mice infused with ACTH for two weeks identified gene transcripts that were up-regulated (70) and down-regulated (49) more than two-fold. Four separate clusters of closely correlated genes (r> 0.97; P< 0.001) were investigated in more detail. One down-regulated cluster included histocom...