Endocrine Abstracts

Stiff person syndrome (SPS) is a rare disease characterized by progressive muscle rigidity and spasms, which can lead to functional disability. This condition can be challenging to diagnose if there is no high index of suspicion. Its etiology is unknown, but one of the most likely causes is autoimmune aggression, which is corroborated by that fact that it is associated with other autoimmune diseases in half of the cases described in literature.We will pr...

Neuroendocrine neoplasia (NENs) are rare tumours that show features of neuroendocrine differentiation. Generally, NENs can be subdivides into high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) and low-to-intermediate grade neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). The most common Endodermal NETs’ localisations are the lungs, ileum, appendix, and rectum. Neuroectodermal NETs include medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), pheochromocytoma (PHEO), and paraganglioma (PGL). Nets are estimated to occur...

Chronic exposure to elevated circulating glucocorticoids can lead to metabolic changes, which resemble those observed in Metabolic Syndrome. Features of the Metabolic Syndrome can be reversed by lowering systemic glucocorticoid levels or by treatment with a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist. At the intracellular level, exposure to glucocorticoids is regulated by two distinct 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases, 11beta-HSD type 1 and type 2. 11beta-HSD1 predominantly acts as ...