Endocrine Abstracts

A 54 yr old man presented with a six-month history of palpitations, sweating and weight loss. He had a past history of hypertension, type II diabetes, asthma and was HIV-1 seropositive since 14 yrs and was taking potent anti-retroviral therapy: Nevirapine 200 mg bd; Kaletra 3 capsules bd; and didanosine ec 400 mg od.Investigations confirmed Graves thyrotoxicosis (fT4 72.1 pmol/l; TSH <0.01 mU/l; and TSH receptor antibody positive). He was initially t...

Method: Male diabetic patients attending erectile dysfunction clinic) and general diabetes clinic were studied . Plasma androgen levels were obtained and erectile function assessed using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF). Results:Low testosterone showed correlated with increasing age and BMI.Low testosterone correlated with HDL.HbA1c showed positive correlation with intercourse satisfaction....

A 45-year-old male to female transsexual presented with poor female fat distribution. She had been treated with oestrogen for 13 years, initially as ethinyl oestradiol to a maximum dose of 150 ug/day, presently taking 100 mcg with GNRH analogue. On this regimen she had B cup breast development but underwent breast augmentation surgery and still suffered from low self-esteem. She was dissatisfied with her body image because she perceived a male body fat distribution. Her initia...

Mrs. P.A., a 75 year old lady, presented to Accident and Emergency with a severe persistent headache of 3 days duration. She was disorientated and drowsy. She has a history of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, depression and hypothyroidism. She was a smoker of 20 a day and consumed no alcohol. Her Glasgow Coma Scale was 13/15, her examination was normal. An initial CT head showed a pituitary tumour with haemorrhage. Tests showed an FSH of 14.1 IU/L, LH 2.9 ...

A 54-year-old Afro–Carribean woman developed worsening obesity, hypertension, and proximal muscle weakness. Clinical examination revealed cushingoid facies, truncal obesity (BMI 34.8), abdominal striae and a BP of 150/90, Ferriman–Gallway score 12.Investigations:- FBG 10.7 mmol/l, 24 urine cortisols 147 mmol/l, 207 mmol/l (NR 25–280 nmol/24 h), normal short synacthen test (cortisol 471 rising to 1002 nmol/l). Subsequent testing revealed a ...

There is a known correlation between dyslipidaemia and hypogonadism in diabetes. In non-diabetic men, calculated free testosterone correlates better than total testosterone with the elements of the metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study is to investigate if this was also true in diabetic men.Methods: This is a retrospective observational study. We analyzed biochemical parameters from 140 sequential male diabetic patients who attended the diabetic erec...

A 29-year-old woman with polycystic ovary syndrome was diagnosed with acromegaly having presented with a two year history of secondary amenorrhea, a change in physical appearance and sweating. The diagnosis was confirmed with an oral glucose tolerance test that also demonstrated she had impaired glucose tolerance. Radiological imaging demonstrated a 2.2 cm pituitary tumor that was compressing the optic chiasm and a bi-temporal visual field defect was confirmed on Goldman field...

A 19 year old university student who participated in athletics presented with secondary amenorrhoea. Examination revealed no features of endocrine disease. A pituitary profile showed normal serum thyroid function and prolactin, but undetectable LH, FSH, and oestradiol. Random serum GH level was detectable (9 milli units per litre), but IGF1 level was low, 72 (190-530 micrograms per litre). An OGTT demonstrated a paradoxical rise in her GH levels (3.5, 2.2, 38, 33, 20; mean GH ...

Prolactin releasing peptide (PrRP) is reported to decrease plasma growth hormone (GH) levels in the rat but increase GH release from human pituitary cells. A barbiturate anaesthetised model was used in the rat studies (where basal plasma growth hormone is elevated) and in humans the GH stimulatory effects were of a small magnitude and seen only in foetal or tumourous pituitary cells. Our studies have examined the role of PrRP in freely moving male rats without the influence of...

Ghrelin, an endogenous growth hormone secretagogue receptor agonist, increases food intake, growth hormone (GH) and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) following intracerebroventricular (ICV) and systemic administration. We now show that low dose intraperitoneal (ip) ghrelin (1nmol) stimulates feeding and results in a plasma ghrelin concentration not significantly different to 24-hour fasting levels. Following injection into 8 hypothalamic nuclei, ghrelin (30pmol) potently sti...