Endocrine Abstracts

A 44 year old man was referred with a 3-week history of progressive visual failure without headaches. He had bitemporal hemianopia but no evidence of endocrine dysfunction. MR scanning revealed a large pituitary macroadenoma with evidence of intralesional haemorrhage and compression of the optic chiasm. Endocrine testing revealed no evidence of a hormone excess syndrome or hypopituitarism. Transphenoidal hypophysectomy was performed urgently in May 2000 and his vision improved...

Prolactin is expressed in lymphoid cells and differentiating (decidualised) endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) under the control of an alternative upstream promoter, distinct from the pituitary-specific promoter. Local prolactin action may have immunomodulatory effects. Th1/Th2 imbalance may be an important cause of habitual abortions in man but the mechanism is unknown. Recently, we characterised a G/T SNP at position -1149 that altered prolactin production by lymphocytes, and ...

The art of writing papers is extremely important to scientists. Communication of scientific information matters as much as doing the experimental work, and the most definitive form of communication is the research paper that has been peer-reviewed and published in a journal. A well-written paper is a pleasure to read, and can be an inspiration to colleagues – it’s the envy of most of us who take many years to learn how to do it well.In preparin...

The anterior pituitary gland displays considerable plasticity with a proliferative response to oestrogen in a number of different situations including pregnancy. The nature of pituitary remodelling to this physiological demand is not clear.Using microarray analysis we found that oestrogen treatment of the rat in vivo increased expression of Wnt4 mRNA in adult rat pituitary tissue. Dual immunofluorescence analysis showed that this Wnt4 expression w...

Prolactin is produced by pituitary lactotrophic cells and by several extrapituitary tissues, including immune cells and the endometrium in man. It has a wide range of actions at different sites, and hyperprolactinaemia and prolactinomas give rise to common clinical problems. The human prolactin gene contains six exons, with two distinct promoters that direct pituitary or extra-pituitary transcription respectively. The pituitary-specific promoter extends over 5000 base-pairs an...

Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) splicing may influence glucocorticoid sensitivity. We aimed to identify GR isoforms in the lung by using immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting, co-immunoprecipitation western and RT-PCR approaches.The distribution of GR protein in rat lung was different when we used an N terminal antibody (M20) compared to a C terminal antibody (GRalpha). M20 detected diffuse expression in all cell types and higher expression in the epithelium. In contrast GRalp...

Carney complex consists of endocrine, cardiac, cutaneous and neural tumours, as well as pigmented lesions in the skin and mucosae. Endocrine manifestations include primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease, acromegaly, prolactinoma, large cell calcifying Sertoli cell tumour in males, and thyroid nodules and carcinomas. Here, we report a new case in whom the diagnosis was obscured by complicating presentations.A female patient, presented with seizure like attacks at ...

Patient information is increasingly well provided, but little is known of patients' actual understanding of their conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge about thyrotoxicosis and its treatment among patients attending the endocrine clinic. Consecutive patients who had received antithyroid drugs were identified from the clinic database and asked to respond to a postal questionnaire. Ethical approval was obtained for the study.Questionnaires...

Oestrogen is an important regulator of the pituitary hormone prolactin (PRL) in vivo, although the regulation mechanism is poorly understood. Liganded oestrogen receptor (ER) synergises with the pituitary specific factor Pit-1 on the rat PRL promoter to facilitate chromatin looping and increased transcription; however, no such mechanism has been reported for the human PRL promoter, in which the ERE sequence is altered.In pituitary GH3 cells stably transf...

Background: Giving patients information about steroid replacement is an inherent part of endocrinologists' and endocrine nurse roles. This information can be life saving and it is imperative that patients have not only understood the information correctly when it is given to them, but that they retain it and are able to act appropriately in times of stress and illness.Method: Following a pilot study, a questionnaire was sent to 102 patients attending the...