Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: We describe three patients recently admitted to our institution with severe hypomagnesaemia and hypocalcaemia and a history of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy.Patient 1 was admitted with lethargy, anorexia and leg cramps. Medications included a PPI (omeprazole) prescribed for gastritis. Corrected calcium was 1.54 mmol/l (2.15–2.65) and magnesium 0.25 mmol/l (0.7–1.0), with a PTH of 1.0 pmol/l (1.6–6.9) and 25-OH-vitamin D 5...

The gastric hormone ghrelin increases appetite and energy intake when administered by intravenous infusion to human subjects and has recently been reported to increase energy intake in patients with anorexia of cancer. Ghrelin also stimulates growth hormone release. We have now investigated whether subcutaneous administration of ghrelin is effective. Approval of the local ethics committee was obtained. Following a preliminary dose-finding study, 16 lean healthy volunteers rece...

The gut hormone ghrelin is involved in feeding behaviour. It increases appetite and food intake when administered by intravenous infusion to subjects of normal weight. Ghrelin levels are often lower in obese than lean individuals and whether responsiveness to ghrelin differs in lean and obese people is not known. We investigated whether obese human subjects are sensitive to the effects of ghrelin. Approval of the local ethics committee was obtained. We examined the effects of ...