Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Observations in patients with GH disturbances and in normal populations have suggested that GH/IGF1 activity could have anti-inflammatory effects. On the other hand, in vitro studies have shown that IGF1 may stimulate the immune system.Methods/design: The study population consisted of 12 healthy volunteers (mean age 36, range 27–49 years) treated with GH for 3 weeks (1st week 0.01 mg/day, 2nd 0.02 mg/day, 3rd 0.03 mg/day) and su...

Introduction: The GH/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) system may modulate the pituitary-gonadal axis in males. Direct pituitary and/or testicular effects might be involved, as well as indirect effects on sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and aromatase activity.Methods/design: Nine healthy male volunteers (mean age 37, range 29–49 years) were treated in random order with increasing doses of GH for three weeks (1st week 0.01, 2nd week 0.02, 3rd 0...

Objectivs: Plasma NT-proBNP is inversely associated with BMI in patients with heart failure (HF). A possible mechanism may be the lipolytic effect of natriuretic peptides on abdominal fat.Myostatin is previously described as a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass in cachexia.We assessed the hypothesis that body composition is related to plasma NT-proBNP and that myostatin levels are associated with loss of fat free mass (FFM)...

Introduction: The neurohormones A and B-type natriuretic peptides are markedly increased in patients with heart disease, and are well established as useful diagnostic biomarkers. Obesity is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Cross sectional data suggest however that plasma levels are reduced among obese. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of weight loss and corresponding changes in body composition on plasma levels of A and B-typ...

Introduction: α-Defensins are recently described peptides, which are part of the innate immune system. Increased circulating levels are observed in conditions associated with chronic low grade inflammation, such as ischemic heart disease and in diabetes mellitus (DM). Recently we reported adverse prognostic implications of high α-defensins in patients with type 1 DM. However, it is not clear whether this finding may be generalized to include other groups such as pati...

Objective: The cardiac hormone brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), including the N-terminal fragment of the prohormone (NT-proBNP) have in cross-sectional studies been demonstrated to be inversely associated with BMI. Clearance of these peptides by adipocyt specific receptors have been suggested. We therefore investigated the impact of weight loss on plasma levels of NT-proBNP and adiponectin in obese individuals.Methods: A total of 20 obese women and 2 men...

Introduction: Heart failure is characterised by an up-regulation of neurohoromones, and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) are well-established diagnostic biomarkers with substancial prognostic value. Adrenomedullin is a vasoactive peptide and a potential biomarker of vascular injury in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) The aims of the present study were to investigate whether mid-regional pro adrenomedullin (MR-proADM) is predictive ...

Background: It is still uncertain if subclinical thyroid disease or ‘high-normal’ thyroid function are risk-factors for atrial fibrillation (AF).Objectives: To examine the risk of AF in relation to thyroid function.Methods: Patients consulting their general practitioner from 2000–2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, who underwent thyroid blood tests, were identified by individual-level linkage of nationwide registries. Patie...