Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Endocrinology, taught in Year 2 of the Edinburgh undergraduate MBChB curriculum to approximately 200 medical students, can present a complex challenge and a test of engagement. Core biomedical curriculum content is delivered as large group teaching (lectures) and then revisited in smaller groups (clinical-cased based tutorials, PBL) designed to integrate learning by applying basic knowledge in a clinical context. PBL first implemented in the 1960s at McMaster Unive...

The mouse steroid 21-hydroxylase-A gene promoter (21-OH) directs adrenal cortex-specific expression of the β-galactosidase reporter in 21-OHase/LacZ transgenic mice. Multiple independent 21-OHase/LacZ transgenic lines show a similar mosaic pattern of reporter expression probably reflecting stochastic transgene silencing. In the adult, the mosaic reporter expression occurs as radial stripes spanning the adrenal cortex. A similar radial striped pattern occurs ...

Introduction: Labour is an inflammatory process involving the innate immune system, premature activation of which, for example by infection, can lead to preterm birth before 37 weeks of gestation with profound pathophysiological consequences for the offspring. The putative antimicrobial protein HRPE773 (ZG16B) expressed in human female reproductive secretory epithelia, has been shown previously to be elevated in human endometrium during the menstrual early secretory phase and ...

We have investigated cell proliferation and apoptosis in Cyp11b1 null (ko) mice. Reduced glucocorticoid (corticosterone) synthesis in ko mice is associated with increased progesterone and deoxycorticosterone and the development of adenomyosis. Numbers of putative uterine stem cells were assessed in wild type (wt) and ko at an age (10–12 months) when the onset of adenomyosis was considered imminent. Mice were infused with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) for seven days then killed...

Introduction: The repercussions of long-term exposure to low level mixtures of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) which are present, ubiquitously, in the environment are not well understood. Heat-treated sewage sludge, an EDC-rich product used as fertiliser, has been shown to compromise testicular and ovarian development. However, to date, there has been limited investigation in exposed animals of the adrenal glands, the steroid hormone products of which play key roles in f...

Introduction: Expression of murine CSP-1/Dcpp secretory proteins was first identified in sublingual salivary glands and subsequently in secretory epithelia of several other tissues, including the mouse female reproductive tract where expression is regulated by oestrogen. Preliminary studies indicated that HRPE773, the human CSP-1/Dcpp orthologue, displayed a similar pattern of expression to its murine counterparts. We therefore hypothesized that HRPE773 might be expressed in h...

Deficiency of the intracellular glucocorticoid (GC) reactivating enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) invokes compensatory activation of the HPA axis. Nevertheless, 11β-HSD1−/− mice resist dietary-induced obesity indicating that target tissues are protected from GC actions. Since endocrine adaptation to diet is mediated by altered HPA activity, we investigated whether the adrenal response to high fat (HF) diet is compr...

Steroidogenic cells of the adrenal cortex are thought to originate from a peripherally-located self-renewing population of undifferentiated stem or progenitor cells. These cells divide infrequently to give daughters, which proliferate transiently (termed transiently amplifying (TA) cells), migrate and differentiate to replenish the functionally-differentiated zones of the adrenal cortex, or remain in situ as undifferentiated stem cells. Theoretically such stem cells can...

Endocrine disruptors are chemicals which in low concentrations can disturb gene expression in a range of endocrine glands and organs including the fetal and adult adrenal glands, potentially resulting in altered steroidogenic flux. With exposure to endocrine disruptors affecting both animals and humans, it is important to assess both the mechanisms and consequences of disruption in steroidogenic pathways, particularly as foetal development may be especially sensitive to endocr...