Endocrine Abstracts

Background: NEQAS data demonstrate a divergence in bias of cortisol immunoassays over the last 10 years. Despite this, a serum cortisol of 50 nmol/l has been universally applied as the cut-off for the overnight dexamethasone suppression test (ONDST), the commonest screening test for Cushing’s syndrome.Aims: To assess the effect of assay bias on interpretation of the ONDST and determine the necessity for a method-specific cut-off.<p class="abstex...

Background: Growth Hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) are the biomarkers used to assess disease activity in acromegaly. Consensus guidelines from the Endocrine Society (2014) recommend a normal (age/sex-adjusted) IGF-1 in combination with a suppressed random GH<1 μg/l for biochemical remission. However, these results are discordant in some patients. The clinical significance of the IGF-1/GH dichotomy in the follow-up of these patients is unclear and...

Background: Acromegaly is characterised by growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) hypersecretion. The disease is associated with increased cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and metabolic co-morbidities, resulting in excess mortality. A target GH <1 μg/l and normalised IGF-1 values correlate with mortality risk reduction. However, there is lack of consensus over which biomarker, GH or IGF-1, better predicts increased morbidity and/ or mortality.<p...