Endocrine Abstracts

Prescription rates for HRT in women with type 2 diabetes are low. One reason for this is concern about adverse metabolic effects although evidence on this is limited. We report results from a 3-month randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial of 1mg 17-beta oestradiol combined with 0.5 mg norethisterone acetate in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes. The study has full local ethics committee approval.29 subjects entered the study; 1 taking ...

Prescription rates for HRT in women with type 2 diabetes are low. One reason for this is concern about adverse metabolic effects although evidence on this is limited. We report results from a 3-month randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial of 1mg 17-beta oestradiol combined with 0.5 mg norethisterone acetate in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes. The study has full local ethics committee approval.29 subjects entered the study; 1 taking ...

Elevated circulating concentrations of non-esterified free fatty acids (NEFAs) are observed in states of insulin resistance and may be associated with increased cardiovascular risk. We hypothesised that NEFAs directly impair endothelial NO bioavailability via increased oxidative stress, in addition to their proposed indirect effect via VLDL. The study was designed to investigate the effect of monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids on endothelium-dependent and -independent v...

11Beta-Hydroxylase (CYP11B1) and aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) catalyse the synthesis of corticosterone and aldosterone respectively in the rat adrenal cortex. Recent studies have shown that CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 are also expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) but little is known about their regulation. In this study, we have quantified CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 gene expression in the CNS following treatment with ACTH and dexamethasone.Three groups of ma...

11Beta-Hydroxylase and aldosterone synthase catalyse the synthesis of corticosterone and aldosterone in the rat adrenal cortex and are encoded by the CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 genes respectively. These genes are also expressed in distinct regions of the CNS and cardiovascular system where they may play a key role in behavioural response and blood pressure homeostasis. However, it is unclear whether this extra-adrenal expression is regulated by, or contributes to, circulating levels ...

In the rat hippocampus, corticosteroids modulate neuronal excitability. Glucocorticoid excess within the rat hippocampus results in a neurodegenerative effect, although corticosteroids also protect oligodendrocytes from cytokine-mediated apoptosis. Other studies have shown that systemically insignificant levels of aldosterone affect systemic blood pressure when administered icv. Previously, we have shown by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry that the genes for 11beta-hydroxylase ...

Genetic variants consistently associated with the development of Graves’ disease (GD) have, to date, been general autoimmunity loci including those within the HLA region, the CTLA-4 gene and most recently the PTPN22 gene encoding lymphoid tyrosine phosphatase (LYP). The thyrotophin receptor gene (TSHR) has recently however, been identified as the first Graves’ disease specific susceptibility locus. To further refine association with disease and exclude populat...

Aldosterone is a key cardiovascular hormone in the development of hypertension and in the evolution of heart failure. Recent studies have suggested that Primary Aldosteronism may be present around 10% of patients with high blood pressure, although the precise definition of the syndrome remains uncertain. Nevertheless, it is clear that dysregulation of aldosterone production is a common clinical phenotype in cardiovascular disease. The majority of patients with aldosterone exce...

J Connell, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom Abstract John Connell graduated in medicine from the University of Glasgow (with commendation) in 1977. After initial general medical training he was appointed Registrar in Endocrinology in the Western Infirmary, Glasgow; in 1983 he became Clinical Scientist within the MRC Blood Pressure Unit and Senior Registrar in Endocrinology. In 1986 he was awarded a ...

Primary Aldosteronism (PA), as defined by the autonomous and inappropriate secretion of aldosterone, causes mineralocorticoid hypertension. Key features of this include suppression of plasma renin and hypokalaemia. Recent studies that have used the ratio of aldosterone to renin (ARR) as a screening test have suggested that the prevalence of PA in unselected populations of patients with hypertension is around 10%. Only a minority of these patients, however, have a low potassium...