Endocrine Abstracts

Positron emission tomography (PET) using the glucose analog tracer fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG) is today a widely available and highly useful functional imaging modality. Thus, FDG-PET has proved its clinical worth in particularly malignancy detection and treatment monitoring and is now often a first-line choice in the diagnostics of a range of diseases. However, PET is also an excellent tool for non-invasive measurement of metabolic processes, pathophysiology and pharmacokineti...

Background: Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in post-menopausal women carries an increased risk of cardiovascular disease due to an unfavorable effect on lipid profile. Thus, HRT treatment increases concentrations of very-low-density-lipoprotein-triglycerides (VLDL-TGs) which have been demonstrated to possess atherogenic properties. However, the exact mechanisms whereby VLDL-TG concentrations are increased by estradiol are not fully understood. Estradiol acts on both rapid re...

Introduction: The presence of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in humans has recently been demonstrated by histology and positron emission tomography (PET). In previous reports, BAT in adults is primarily confined to the upper chest and neck. Here, we report a case of massive BAT infiltration of the visceral adipose tissue in a patient with catecholamine secreting paraganglioma.Methods: The patient was evaluated with [18F]-FDG PET/CT at three occasi...

Context: An interaction between gut-derived ghrelin, which is implicated in the regulation of short- and long-term energy balance, and thyroid function has previously been reported in patients with hyperthyroidism, in whom ghrelin levels are reversibly suppressed. In the present study, we measured total serum ghrelin levels and pertinent metabolic indices in hypothyroid patients before end after L-thyroxin replacement.Patients and methods:...

Background: Physiological elevations of free fatty acids (FFAs) occur in a dynamic bell-shaped fashion lasting some hours, e.g. nocturnally and during exercise. In order to define the metabolic role of physiological elevations in relation to diurnal fluctuations in insulin sensitivity, the present study was designed to identify the metabolic effects of a dynamic 4 hour elevation of FFAs during a glucose clamp.Materials and methods: 8 lean, healthy men we...