Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Growth hormone (GH) plays an important role in modifying body composition. In acromegaly, a state of chronic GH/IGF-I excess, visceral and ectopic fat mass, especially in the liver, are significantly reduced. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of GH/IGF-I on hepatocellular lipid content (HCL) and energy metabolism in a non-acromegalic cohort of patients with and without non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Methods: We pe...

Background: Despite adequate glucocorticoid (GC) and mineralocorticoid (MC) replacement therapy, primary adrenal insufficiency (AI) is associated with an increased mortality, mainly due to cardiovascular disease. The role of MC replacement is not known. Therefore we assessed whether renin concentrations during routine GC and MC substitution therapy are associated with cardiac function and morphology.Methods: 17 patients with AI underwent magnetic resonan...

Background: Altered hepatic mitochondrial activity plays a key role in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). GH has been shown to stimulate mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle. Therefore we hypothesize that the time course of serum GH concentrations during an oral glucose tolerance test might be related to hepatic mitochondrial energy metabolism in vivo in humans.Methods: 15 volunteers (male/female: 7/8; 55±8 y...

Background: Leptin reduces hepatic lipid content in lipodystrophic and overweight, relatively hypoleptinemic NAFLD patients. However, the underlying mechanism is unknown. In rodents, the anti-steatotic action of leptin is mediated by an increase in VLDL secretion and depends on an intact vagal innervation of the liver.Methods: In this randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial, we study the effects of a single metreleptin injection (0.1 mg/kg body w...

Objective: Treatment with metreleptin ameliorates hepatic steatosis in patients with lipodystrophy. The anti-steatotic effect of metreleptin is partially independent of its anorexic action, which suggests a direct effect of metreleptin on hepatic lipid metabolism. However, this mechanism is unknown. Based on previous findings in rodents, we hypothesized that metreleptin reduces hepatic lipid content by stimulating very-low density lipoprotein triglyceride (VLDL1-TG) secretion,...