Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Weight gain is underrecognised in patients with hypothalamic damage and the prevalence and mechanisms are poorly defined. The aim of this study was to define the diagnoses and endocrine characteristics associated with weight gain.Subjects and methods: A retrospective study of 48 patients (25 female) mean (SD) age 45.3yrs (9.8).They included 22 patients with primary hypothalamic lesions (craniopharyngiomas, Rathke's cysts and other tumours)[g...

Objectives: GHR in adults with GHD favourably effects body composition (reduces fat and increases lean body mass) although body weight usually remains unchanged. However the effect of GHR on ingestive behaviour and voluntary physical activity in adults has not been studied.Methods: We studied 10 hypopituitary adults (8 males, 2 females, mean age 49.7 years) with severe GHD (mean peak GH response to glucagon 3.26 mU/l, baseline IGF-1 level 14.5 nmol/L) be...

Aims: The majority of patients with Cushing's disease have pituitary microadenomas and preoperative localization can be helpful during transphenoidal surgery. Inferior petrosal sinus sampling (IPSS) of ACTH and responses to CRH may show higher levels on the side ipsilateral to the tumour, although this remains controversial. A few small studies suggested a prolactin response to CRH during IPSS. We assessed whether prolactin responses to CRH can help lateralize the microadenoma...