Endocrine Abstracts

Seventeen newly-diagnosed acromegalic patients (8 female, 9 male: mean age 55 year, range 26–73 year) were recruited to the A.C.R.O.P.A.T. trial. Patients were assessed prior to, and following, 6 months of treatment with Somatuline Autogel® (SA).Growth hormone (GH) & insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1): Following treatment, GH and IGF1 levels fell significantly in all but one subject: median GH change −17.23 mU/l (interquar...

BackgroundRadioiodine therapy (RAI) is an effective treatment for hyperthyroidism, being used with increasing frequency. There is no consensus as to the correct use of radioiodineThe aim is to compare our practice to the standards recommended by the working group of the Royal College of Physicians and Society for Endocrinology and to measure the outcome at one year of using a fixed dose of RAI (555 Mbq) .Meth...

A 76yr old lady presented to A&E with 'collapse and fall', 2 days following self-discharge for the same complaint. She had a medical history of type 2 diabetes on Gliclazide 80 mg o.d. and osteoarthritis of the spine.She was noted to be tanned with pigmented palmar creases and had marked postural hypotension. Biochemistry showed serum sodium 124 millimols per litre, potassium 4.6 millimols per litre and cortisol 43 nanmols per litre. A short synacthe...

We have previously shown that β-endorphin reduces muscle fatigue and increases glucose uptake in contracting and non-contracting skeletal muscles of the mouse. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of these peptides on glucose uptake and muscle fatigue in normal mice and obese-diabetic mice (which provide a model for non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, NIDDM). The uptake of glucose into contracting and non-contracting muscle was assessed using the non-metab...

An asymptomatic 66-year-old man was referred for investigation of chronic hypernatraemia. Plasma sodium varied between 146–152 mmol/l and potassium was normal over several years. There was no relevant past, family or drug history. There were no symptoms or signs of hypercotisolism or other endocrinopathy either. Clinical examination was normal.Initial investigations were as follows – sodium 149 mmol/l, potassium 4.3 mmol/l, urea 7.9 mmol/l, cre...

Hyperthyroidism has a profound effect on the cardiovascular system. Heart failure is common in the elderly patients with hyperthyroidism who have co-existing cardiac disease.We report a case of severe heart failure in a 43-year-old woman with Graves' disease. She presented with cough and breathlessness for 3 weeks. There was a strong family history of thyroid disease. On presentation, she had florid hyperthyroidism with features of Graves' disease. Exam...

The Royal College of Physicians guidelines (2007) on follow-up post radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism recommend thyroid function monitoring around weeks 6, 12, 26, 39, 52 and yearly thereafter in stable patients. We retrospectively analyzed data from 91 patients given radioiodine in 2005 who were followed-up locally comparing our practice with these standards. Fifteen percent of patients were lost to follow-up before year one with 40% of these not having their thyroid fu...

Diabetes mellitus, characterised primarily by hyperglycaemia, is associated with a number of cellular stresses and changes that cause cardiomyocytes to adapt with those modifications that characterise the diabetic heart. Although orexins are cardiovascular regulators acting via the brain, little is known about their potentially critical roles in the heart. Orexins exert their actions by activating two distinct G protein coupled receptors, orexin-R1 (OXR1) amd orexin-R2 (OXR2)....

Introduction/Background: ACTH production from a midgut mesentery NET is extremely rare (1). A 62y old woman presented with hypokalaemia (2mmol/L) and hyperpigmentation, 11y after surgery of a pT3N1Mx non-functional G1 NET with SRS positive, non-resectable but stable, residual mass encasing mesenteric vessels. Serum cortisol (3261 nmol/L), ACTH (796 ng/L), CgA (530 pmol/L) and urine total cortisol metabolites (33920 μg/24h) including 14 sub-products indicated change of bio...