Endocrine Abstracts

In the prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide reaching 30% of the adult population in some countries. Direct and inferential evidences show that this excess of body fat is associated with adverse health consequences, and that even a modest 5 to 10% weight loss results in substantial improvement in health. Considering the limited efficacy of the so-called ‘life style’ interventions based on diet plus exercise in the obese subjects, and that bariatric surgery is...

Ghrelin and GHRH are two hormones involved in the growth hormone (GH) secretion through their respective receptors. The growth hormone secretagogue receptor subtype 1a (GHS-R1a) is involved in biological actions exerted by ghrelin triggering intracellular second messengers coupled to Gαq/11 protein. In this work, we analyzed the possible interaction between GHRH and GHS-R1a as well as the subsequent intracellular pathways. The results showed that GHRH induced, ...

Ghrelin, the endogenous ligand for the GH secretagogue receptor type 1a (GHS-R1a), is a peptide with a post-translational octanoyl modification on Ser-3. Previous studies of ghrelin derivatives showed that the pendant group at Ser-3 plays an essential role in the bioactivity. The acylated peptide specifically releases growth hormone (GH) both in vivo and in vitro, while the desoctanoyl form of the hormone is at least 100-fold less potent than the parent peptide.<p class="a...

Introduction: Ghrelin is a novel peptide involved in the regulation of appetite and energy balance. Dysregulation of ghrelin may play a role in the development of obesity in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Due to the strong association between BMI and PCOS, we hypothesised that obese women with PCOS have abnormal fasting and post-glucose load ghrelin levels compared with BMI-matched control women.Methods: Datasets included 18 women with PCOS, all with ...

Introduction: Primary hypogonadism (PHG, testosterone <10.5 nmol/l and LH >9.5 U/l) without a recognisable cause affects ~2% of community-dwelling middle-aged and older men. We sought to identify the clinical significance of, and risk factors for, this apparently age-related hypogonadal state.Methods/design: The European Male Ageing Study (EMAS) is a prospective observational cohort survey of 3.369 community-dwelling men aged 40–79 in eight ...