Endocrine Abstracts

The anterior pituitary gland displays considerable plasticity with a proliferative response to oestrogen in a number of different situations including pregnancy. The nature of pituitary remodelling to this physiological demand is not clear.Using microarray analysis we found that oestrogen treatment of the rat in vivo increased expression of Wnt4 mRNA in adult rat pituitary tissue. Dual immunofluorescence analysis showed that this Wnt4 expression w...

Introduction: SIADH is frequently observed as a paraneoplastic secretion in many cancer types with the highest frequency described in small-cell lung cancer. The paraneoplastic secretion of ADH/vasopressin may induce hyponatraemia which is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Conventional treatment of the condition consists of fluid restriction and demeclocycline. Tolvaptan, an oral V2-receptor antagonist, that directly targets the mechanism of SIADH, has been pr...

Case: A 44-year-old lady was diagnosed with Acromegaly (IGF-1 of 1315 ng/ml, prolactin 498 mu/l). She was also thyrotoxic clinically and biochemically with T4 29 pmol/l (normal 9-26), total T3 3.24 nmol/l (normal 0.9–2.2) but high TSH of 3.50 mu/l (normal 0.35–3.5). Further work-up with TRH testing and α-subunit measurement confirmed a TSHoma. Pituitary MRI scan showed a macroadenoma displacing optic chiasm and extending into cavernous sinu...

NIS and Tg are viewed as characteristic markers for thyrocytes. They are still expressed in a high percentage of differentiated and undifferentiated thyroid carcinomas but these data are obtained by conventional immunohistochemistry. Here we used tissue microarrays and confocal microscopy to compare subcellular localization of Tg and NIS in a large series of benign and malignant thyroid samples.Methods157 papillary (PTC), 56 follic...

The basic mechanisms underlying thyroid growth and proliferation in thyroid cancer are still incompletely characterized. Lithium inhibits GSK3beta and affects via phosphorylation the degradation of free beta-catenin, a potent transcription factor. Hence, using lithium as a model to modulate the wnt/beta-catenin pathway, we investigated its potential activation in-vitro in neoplastic human thyroid cell lines (FTC133, NPA).Our results show that lithium fun...

Background: Anaplastic thyroid-carcinomas (ATC) and a subset of papillary (PTC) and follicular (FTC) thyroid carcinomas behave aggressively showing metastatic spread and radio-resistance. Both the PI3K and HIF pathways are associated with aggressiveness and metastasis in thyroid carcinoma.Aims: To assess if the PI3K/HIF pathways contribute to radio-resistance and assess the effect of PI3K/HIF inhibition on radio-sensitivity of thyroid-carcinoma cells (85...

Leptin circulates as a free (FL) and a protein-bound (BL) form, with the soluble leptin receptor (LR) as an important binding compound. This study was set out to address the distinct role of the leptin components in the metabolic and inflammatory tissue-repair response in patients with liver cirrhosis.MethodsWe investigated hepatic substrate and leptin metabolism in 40 cirrhotics employing a combination of arterial and hepatic vein...

Objective: Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland which modulates sleep and wakefulness rhythms. Decreased melatonin secretion has been shown to be associated with increased daytime sleepiness and disturbed circadian rhythm in (irradiated) survivors of childhood craniopharyngeoma. The present study was performed to explore possible relationships between disturbed sleep, psychosocial impairment and melatonin secretion in patients treated with cranial radiotherapy a...

Prolactinomas are the commonest type of functioning pituitary adenoma in man. High circulating oestrogen levels are associated with lactotroph proliferation and increased PRL secretion essential for lactation. In vitro, oestradiol induces proliferation of the rat pituitary somatolactotroph GH3 cell line, and chronic oestrogen treatment of Fischer-344 rats in vivo results in lactotroph hyperplasia and adenoma formation, though the mechanisms responsible remain elu...

Rhythmic, timed secretion of ghrelin and leptin is integral to the intricate temporal interplay of hormonal signals that maintains energy balance, feeding and body weight. Growth hormone replacement (GHR) in adult growth hormone deficient (AGHD) patients has been shown to alter body composition, energy balance and insulin sensitivity with changes in leptin secretory pattern and concentration. With GHR, single time point ghrelin concentrations have been shown to either increase...