Endocrine Abstracts

Background/objectives: Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a potent hormone known to reduce glycaemia and improve insulin resistance with anti-obesity effects. Although mainly secreted in the liver, adipose tissue is considered an important target for its function. Whilst FGF21 has been shown to be expressed in murine adipose tissue, studies in human adipose tissue are lacking. Therefore our aim was to examine the expression of FGF21, FGF21 receptor-1 (FGFR1), βKlotho ...

Introduction: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare, heterogeneous, genetic connective tissue disorder that manifests clinically as bone fragility, brittleness and growth disorder. Effective diagnosis is important (although often challenging) to enable institution of early and effective multidisciplinary management.The case: A 19-year-old woman was referred to the Endocrine clinic at the Warwickshire Institute for the Study of Diabetes, Endocrinology an...

Background/objectives: Irisin is a novel myokine, released predominantly by skeletal muscle. Peripheral action of irisin improves glucose homeostasis, increases energy expenditure and induces browning of adipocytes, with therapeutic potential for use in weight loss. However, there are no human studies on the central role of irisin in the regulation of appetite or energy expenditure. This study sought to examine the potential central role of irisin, by demonstrating irisin in h...

Materials and methods: Paired AbSc and Om AT were collected from patients undergoing elective liposuction surgery (Age; 45±1.72 years; lean BMI; 22.91±0.56 kg/m2; obese BMI; 33.51±1.04 kg/m2; n=23) for gene expression analysis by microarray and real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fasted blood was taken to measure metabolic parameters.Results: Microarray data showed that Om AT had signi...

Background/aim: The global obesity epidemic has promoted a search for novel solutions. One approach is through modification of eating-related behaviours. Our aim was to explore the effects of meal duration on energy expenditure, appetite and excursions of molecules associated with insulin sensitivity in the post-prandial phase.Methods: Normoglycaemic, pre-menopausal, Caucasian obese women (n=8) were recruited from the Obesity clinic at Warwicksh...

Adipose tissue (AT) distribution impacts directly on type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk, however few studies have investigated the site-specific nature of human epicardial AT compared with gluteo-femoral (thigh) fat. Our recent studies have implicated epicardial AT as an important source of pro-inflammatory cytokines which may impact on myocardial function. Therefore the aim of this study was, using matched paired epicardial AT and gluteo-femoral (thigh) AT from p...

Central obesity is strongly associated with sub-clinical inflammation, insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the intracellular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of central obesity remain unclear. Recent studies have implicated NFκB and c-jun N terminal kinase (JNK) as central molecules linking insulin action and inflammation in mice. As such we examined (1) the inflammatory intracellular signaling pathways involving NFκB, JNK as a pot...