Endocrine Abstracts

A 14-year-old girl presented with 11 months’ history of secondary amenorrhoea and autonomic symptoms on a background of significant anxiety and lethargy. She had been taking fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months to treat anxiety and low mood. Menarche occurred had aged 12 years and 5 months and her menstrual cycle had been regular prior to its cessation one year earlier. She had no significant past medical history. There was a family history of hypothyroidism. On examinatio...

Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including propionate, are the main metabolic by-products in the fermentation of non-digestible dietary fibre by the gut microbiota. SCFAs have wide-ranging effects in vivo, and their receptors, free fatty acid receptor 2 (FFAR2) and free fatty acid receptor 3 (FFAR3), are expressed at numerous tissue sites. Sodium propionate supplementation has been shown to increase energy expenditure, induce sympathetic neuron action potentials and p...