Endocrine Abstracts

The meningioma is a tumour that arises from cells that form a fibrous membrane, covering the brain. They account for around 15percent of intracranial tumours and about 7percent of all people dying from brain tumours. These tumours occur more frequently in women than in men and this has lead to the suggestion that oestrogens have a role in their development and growth. Studies a decade ago with antioestrogens have proved inconclusive and therefore a medical therapy based on ant...

The release of cytochrome c from mitochondria is often the trigger for the nuclear and cytoplasmic changes that characterise apoptotic cell death. Previously, we have shown that vascular endothelial cells of the line, EA.hy 926, undergo apoptosis in response to TNFalpha, camptothecin and oxidants and that this is blocked by the glucocorticoid, dexamethasone (Dex). As a tool to determine where in the apoptotic pathway Dex acts to block the apoptotic process, we have developed a...