Endocrine Abstracts

The growing epidemic of obesity has led health professionals to understand the pathophysiology of obesity and its complications. Gut microbiota are of special interest, since some kinds of microbiota such as Bacteroides are less in obese persons and some microbiota induce obesity in animals by effective fat storage through microbiota-mediated intestinal Fiaf (Fasting-induced adipose factor) suppressions. Recently, bile acid-binding resins (BARs), non-absorbable drug for dyslip...

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a major cause of secondary hypertension. Among PA, the diagnosis of an aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) is critical because an APA can be cured surgically. Adrenal venous sampling (AVS) is the golden standard test in the diagnosis of an APA, but is available only in specialized medical centers. Meanwhile, aldosterone secretion of an APA is reported to be more sensitive to ACTH than that of idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA) or essential hypert...

Chronic inflammation in adipose tissue contributes to obesity-related insulin resistance. The 3-Phosphoinositide-dependent Protein Kinase 1 (Pdk1)/forkhead transcription factor (Foxo1) pathway is important in regulating glucose and energy homeostasis, but little is known about this pathway in adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs). To investigate this, we generated transgenic mice that carried macrophage/granulocyte-specific mutations, including a Pdk1 knockout (LysMPdk1-/-), a Pdk...

Aims: We investigated the association between urinary pentosidine concentration (UPC) and vascular complications.Methods: UPC was measured in 66 patients (31 men and 35 women) with type 2 diabetes. We compared UPC between patients with and without diabetic microangiopathy, and between patients with and without macroangiopathy (cerebral infarction (CI), coronary artery disease, and peripheral arterial disease). Stepwise regression analysis was performed t...

Objectives: Angiotensin II (AngII) induces renal premature senescence by multiple mechanisms including by increasing oxidative stress. Recent study revealed that growth hormone secretagogue ghrelin exerts anti-senescence effects. In this study, we examined whether ghrelin inhibits AngII-induced renal senescence and damages.Methods: Renal senescence was induced by infusion of Ang II in C57BL/6 mice with osmotic mini-pump. Ghrelin was administered by the d...

Aim: We investigated the influence of mitochondrial dysfunction associated with aging on physical performance in mice, and the effect of hormone replacement on physical performance.Method: Using 8, 20, 50 and 100 week-old C57bl6 mice, we evaluated skeletal muscle mass, mitochondrial activity, glucose tolerance and physical performance (muscle power and exercise endurance). In addition, we treated 50-week-old mice with ghrelin or insulin like growth facto...

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) in human has been believed to decrease muscle weight and physical performance. High protein diet would increase muscle mass and strength especially in athletes, but is not recommended for CKD patients because of the risk for exacerbation of uremia. Therefore, we investigated the muscle character especially focused on the mitochondrial activity and physical performance in 5/6 nephrectomy CKD model mice, which fed on different protein con...

Backgrounds: Podocytes are highly specialized postmitotic kidney cells that contribute to maintaining the filtration barrier and normal structure of glomerular capillaries. The (pro)renin receptor (PRR), as ATP6AP2, is an accessory subunit of the vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase), implying more fundamental, developmental functions for the PRR in addition to its role in activating the local renin-angiotensin system.Results: Podocyte-specific conditional (P)RR...

We present a case of severe malignant pheochromocytoma complicated with intestinal pseudo-obstruction, which was refractory to conventional therapies but reacted to intravenous administration of an α-blocker, phentolamine.Malignant pheochromocytoma typically metastasizes to bones, liver, lungs, and lymph nodes, and average 5-year survival rate in the patient with metastases is approximately 50%. Treatment options for malignant pheochromocytoma inclu...

Introduction: Bile acid binding resins (BABRs), anion exchange resins developed as medication for hypercholesterolemia, have been reported to improve glycemic control in patients and animal models with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Although the mechanism has not been clarified yet, we suspect that diverse factors including peripheral bile acid composition and incretins play significant roles in the effect. Besides BABRs, bile acids (BAs) administration has been recently reported t...