Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: The main physiological function of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is the regulation of water and salt homeostasis as well as arterial blood pressure. In addition, the RAAS is proposed to be involved in the pathophysiology of several diseases like hypertension, vascular remodelling, atherosclerosis, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In a cohort study in north-east Germany, we investigated the association of plasma renin- (PRC) or plasm...

Background: In the classic paradigm, the primary function of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) was thought to passively bind and transport steroids and estrogens in the blood to access target tissues and to determine their bioavailable fraction. Now there is increasing evidence that SHBG plays an active role in steroid actions and is an actively contributes to many age-associated comorbidities including type 2 diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome (MetS).<p class="ab...

Background: Osteocalcin (OC) is a bone-specific protein produced primarily by osteoblasts during bone formation. The OC concentration is used to assess fracture risk and monitor treatment of osteoporosis and other disorders of bone metabolism. To adequately interpret the OC concentration, it is necessary to calculate reference ranges from a healthy reference population, adapted to a specific laboratory method.Methods: We established a healthy reference p...

Objective: In vitro and in vivo models revealed that the somatotropic system exerts central effects on the central nervous system. The objective of this study was to investigate for the first time whether varying endogenous IGF1 levels are associated with mental health outcomes, namely affective disorders, in humans.Design and methods: We included 6773 subjects from the DETECT study, a representative study on primary care patients in German...