Endocrine Abstracts

BackgroundUse of Evolocumab as a monotherapy or in combination with other lipid lowering drugs reduces LDL-C by up to 60% in patients with or without familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), diabetes mellitus (DM), or coronary artery disease (CAD). Data regarding the efficacy of PCSK9 inhibitors in MENA populations is lacking.MethodRetrospective case review of all patients initiated on Evolocumab treatment at Impe...

Background: Inclisiran is the first clinically available small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based treatment, has been shown to reduce pro-atherogenic lipoproteins in patients with or without familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), diabetes mellitus (DM), or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), but has not been evaluated in Middle Eastern populations.Methods: Retrospective review of patients initiating inclisiran treatment for any indication at our cent...

Background: Acanthosis nigricans (AN) is a cutaneous condition characterised by pigmented hyperkeratosis of the skin flexures and neck and occurs most commonly in association with hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance (IR). A high prevalence of hyperinsulinaemia and abnormal glucose intolerance has been reported in the Emirati population. Current knowledge of AN suggests that it is a strong visible cutaneous marker associated with IR and can precede the onset of hyperglycae...

Background: Interest is rising in the use of traditional food as potential treatments for diabetes. In some arid regions camel milk is believed to have special health promoting properties. Some studies have linked consumption of camel milk to diabetes prevention in addition to describing hypoglycaemic effects in those with diabetes. The potential mechanism is incompletely understood.Aims: To investigate the impact on glucose metabolism after a mixed meal...

A sixty-four year old man presented for investigation of mild hypercalcaemia (2.68 mmol/L) incidentally discovered during preoperative workup for elective removal of a testicular cyst. He had no family history of renal stones. His younger brother had undergone a parathyroidectomy at the age of 60. His father died in a road traffic accident aged 54. His mother was 84 and had no history of endocrine disease. Urine calcium:creatinine excretion ratio was 0.0207, excluding familial...

Background: The Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP1RA) semaglutide has shown improvements in glycaemia and other metabolic parameters for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in clinical trials. Published real-world data are sparse and there are none from the Middle East where semaglutide became available in 2020.Method and Results: We retrospectively gathered data for 289 patients (median age 50 years (IQR 42-57), 36% female, 87% Emirati and 8...

Background: Normocalcaemic primary hyperparathyroidism (NPHPT) can be considered as an early biochemical manifestation of hypercalcaemic primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Vitamin D repletion and exclusion of other conditions is recommended before diagnosing NPHPT. It is often challenging to distinguish Vitamin D deficiency associated secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) from NPHPT and the two conditions may coexist. A parathyroid function (PF) index [(Parathyroid hormone (PT...

Camel milk provides a modest portion of the overall global milk share but is an important source of protein in arid regions. Perceived health benefits include anti-diabetic properties attributed to its unique composition. We hypothesise that exogenous insulin present in camel milk mediates a hypoglycaemic effect. In a randomised, double blind crossover study, eleven normoglycaemic individuals were allocated to receive a 300 kcal pre-load of camel milk or cow milk ten minutes p...

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity have been linked with sleeping disorders in general and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in particular; both are highly prevalent amongst Emirati patients. However, little information is available in this population regarding the prevalence and symptomatology of OSA, its relationships with T2D and obesity, and its impact on health outcomes.Objectives: This study aims to investigate the risk of OSA based on the ...

Background: Obesity is a major medical health problem. Human brown adipose tissue (BAT) is potently activated by cold exposure and is a potential novel anti-obesity target. The current gold standard for measuring BAT activity in humans is 18F-FDG PET/CT. However it has two major limitations – exposure to ionizing radiation and high cost. Since BAT is a thermogenic organ located in the supraclavicular and neck regions, we hypothesised that an increase in tempera...