Endocrine Abstracts

We describe the case of a 22-year-old South Asian male presenting to Endocrine Services with morbid obesity (BMI>50), sexual immaturity and agoraphobia. Born at full term following an uncomplicated pregnancy, he reached all developmental milestones appropriately. His problems began aged 15 after witnessing a murder, with reactive depression and hyperphagia. By the age of 18, he weighed over 140 kg, had poor self-image and suicidal ideation. He was managed initially by seve...

Hypoglycaemia and hypoglycaemia unawareness severely limit the optimal management of diabetes mellitus and cause recurrent morbidity and even mortality in intensively controlled patients. Altered hypothalamic glucose sensing has been implicated in the development of defective counter regulatory responses to insulin induced hypoglycaemia and hypoglycaemic unawareness. This change in hypothalamic glucose sensing has been attributed, at least in part, to an increase in glucokinas...

As the nation gets fatter, the incidence of diabetes is also rising. The brain is now emerging as a critical mediator of blood sugar control, re-directing focus away from the traditional pancreas-centred model. The enzyme glucokinase (GK) acts as a glucose sensor in many tissues including glucose-sensitive neurones within the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. However, the role of GK here is unclear. We investigated the role of arcuate GK in glucose homeostasis in both healthy and ...