Endocrine Abstracts

Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) is greatly increased in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), patients typically have apparently healthy lipid profiles. Simple measurement of plasma lipids however does not provide information regarding lipoprotein particle size which in the nondiabetic population is independently predictive of CVD. Plasma lipids and lipoprotein subclasses (using polyacrylamide gel-tube electrophoresis) were studied in reproductive age women with T1DM and comp...

Pituitary patients with different aetiologies of hypopituitarism exhibit differing phenotypes despite optimal replacement therapy. We hypothesised that differential regulation of the isoenzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (11β-HSD1), which mediates the autocrine conversion of cortisone to cortisol in adipose tissues and liver may play a role.We prospectively studied 11β-HSD1 activity through analysis of 24 h urine cortisol/cortisone ...

Acromegalic congestive cardiac failure (CCF) is a serious and late complication of untreated acromegaly with associated high morbidity and mortality.1 Spontaneous recovery of end stage acromegalic CCF following autoinfarction of a somatotroph adenoma has not been previously reported.We report the case of a 61-year-old woman who presented with features of severe biventricular CCF and an acromegalic phenotype. Echocardiography revealed poor LV f...

Adult GH deficiency is associated with poor quality of life (QoL) which has been shown to improve with GH replacement is some but not all, mainly short-term studies. In addition, it remains unclear whether this improvement in QoL is sustainable.We aimed to establish the short and long-term effect of GH replacement on QoL in 167 adult patients with severe GH deficiency in a prospective study. QoL was assessed using the quality of life-assessment of growth...

Abstract: PCOS prevalence is reported to be increased in reproductive-age women with type-1 diabetes (T1DM) but measurement of androgens, crucial for diagnosis, has been with inaccurate immunoassays. No studies have been reported using liquid-chromatography-mass-spectrometry (LCMS). Reproductive-age T1DM women attending a single centre were evaluated for PCOS (NIH criteria). Women with T1DM and PCOS (T1/PCOS) were compared to T1DM women without hyperandrogenism (T1/no HA), and...

Abstract: The prevalence of hyperandrogenism has been reported to be increased in reproductive-age women with type-1 diabetes (T1DM). This observation however is based on findings using inaccurate immunoassays. No studies have been reported in diabetes using liquid-chromatography-mass-spectrometry (LCMS). We compared LCMS-measured androgens in T1DM-women with age-/ BMI-matched normal women, and compared findings with those in women with type-2 diabetes (T2DM) also compared to ...

Context: Patients with hypopituitarism have increased morbidity and mortality. There is ongoing debate around the optimum glucocorticoid replacement therapy.Objective: To assess the effect of glucocorticoid replacement in hypopituitarism on corticosteroid metabolism and its impact on body composition.Design and patients: We assessed the urinary corticosteroid metabolite profile (using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) and body ...

Context: The economic and logistic burden of screening for hypopituitarism following moderate/severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considerable. Published guidelines suggest prioritisation for screening of patients with symptoms of pituitary dysfunction.Objective: To evaluate the implementation of targeted symptom-based screening for hypopituitarism after moderate/severe TBI, compared with routine consecutive screening.Design: Gr...

Obesity is a recognised complication of craniopharyngioma (CP), but its aetiology is not understood. Leptin, which signals energy reserve, and ghrelin, which regulates appetite, are implicated in the development of obesity.Our aim was to assess leptin and ghrelin levels in CP patients and to compare these to normal and BMI-matched controls.CP patients were identified from the local database. All CP patients were on hormone replacem...