Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Recent data suggest a reciprocal influence between bone and energy metabolism. Mediators have been identified as osteocalcin (OC), which stimulates insulin (IRI) secretion and activity and IRI as bone anabolic factor. Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) stimulates bone turnover, induces osteoporosis and is associated with increased IRI resistance. A positive relationship between OC and IRI sensitivity has been found in PHPT, but no data exist on the relationship b...

Background: Childhood-onset GH deficiency (CO-GHD) is perceived to be a cause of low bone density and osteoporosis in adulthood. Data on bone mass and body composition of GH-treated adolescents with CO-GHD at final height are inconsistent.Aims: To compare size/height corrected parameters of bone mass and body composition in adolescents with CO-GHD at final height.Method: Review of CO-GHD treated patients at final height between 200...

Background: GH therapy in adolescents with childhood onset GH deficiency (CO-GHD) is often necessary to prevent adult GHD syndrome and requires a re-evaluation of the GH axis on attainment of final height. Not all individuals with CO-GHD remain GH deficient and re-evaluation is required to confirm or refute adult GHD.Aim: Review the care received by young adults diagnosed with CO-GHD.Design: Retrospective review of young adults wit...

The finding of an adrenal incidentaloma warrants a careful diagnostic work-up to assess hormonal activity and potential malignancy. Current diagnostic algorithms depend largely on imaging studies, which is time-consuming, expensive and carries a health risk. Urinary steroid profiling using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) might be a valuable diagnostic test for differentiating benign from malignant adrenal lesions, as adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) often cause abn...

Introduction: 3-M syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder characterised by pre- and postnatal growth restriction, characteristic facial dysmorphism, normal intelligence and radiological features (slender long bones and tall vertebral bodies). It is known to be caused by mutations in the genes encoding Cullin 7 (a component of the ubiquitination system) and Obscurin like-1 (a cytoskeletal protein). The mechanisms through which mutations in these genes impair growth are uncl...

Background and aim: Achondroplasia (ACH) is one of the commonest skeletal dysplasias affecting 1:15 000–1:40 000 live births. The average attained adult height is 131±5.6 cm for men and 124±5.9 cm for women. Previous studies have shown that the use of rhGH may result in transient increase in the growth rate, but there have been no long-term data regarding adult height. We aimed to study a cohort of patients with ACH and other skeletal dysplasias who have been tr...

Introduction: The onset and progression of liver damage in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is tightly associated with metabolic derangements. Steroids may affect lipid metabolism but their alterations in the setting of NAFLD remain to be fully explored.Patients and Methods: We analyzed data from 267 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD and 112 controls (CT). A panel of 26 steroids (including glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, androgens, and prog...

Introduction: The low incidence rate of adrenocortical carcinoma requires a multidisciplinary approach in which specialised surgery has an essential role as complete resection of the primary tumour is the only chance of cure.In order to improve patient care, insight into surgical results within the ACC population is essential. In 2007, a Dutch Adrenal Network Registry has been created encompassing care and outcome of patients treated for ACC in The Nethe...

Glioblastoma (GBM; grade IV astrocytoma) is the one of the most malignant and lethal endocrine-related cancers worldwide. Current standard treatment consists of surgery followed by radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy; however, this is only a palliative approach with a mean post-operative survival of scarcely ~12-15 months. Therefore, the identification of novel therapeutic targets to treat this devastating pathology is urgently needed. In this context, the truncated splicing-vari...

Introduction: Refractory hypothyroidism is associated with significantly increased morbidity and healthcare costs. During the evaluation of refractory disease, a thyroxine absorption test is frequently performed using different protocols. We assessed the usefulness of the supervised rapid thyroxine absorption test in a low-resource setting and formulated a useful model to determine the expected FT4 rise in hypothyroid patients without known malabsorption.<p class="abstext"...