Endocrine Abstracts

The vitamin A-derived hormone retinoic acid (RA) is best known for its essential role in development, but components of the RA signalling pathway are also expressed in regions of the adult brain, including the hypothalamus, which regulates feeding behaviour, metabolism and body weight. RA is synthesised by the tanycytes lining the third ventricle and has recently been found to regulate cell proliferation in the hypothalamus. Some animals, such as the hamster and F344 rat, alte...

The effect of age on thyroid function and hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis have been studied. The objective of the study was to examine: correlation between triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) hormone levels, thyroid antibodies and thyroglobulin levels and old age; capability of TSH and prolactin (PRL) response to TRH, in TRH test depending on age and gender of the examines. We have tested 125 subjects, classified in 4 group. First, cont...

A 59 yr old man was admitted with sweating, tremors and generalized weakness. Blood tests showed FT4>100 pmol/l, FT3>50 pmol/l, TSH<0.01 mU/l, neutrophils 0.6×109 /l Past medical history included recurrent hyperthyroidism, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and neutropenia of ‘unknown’ origin(under investigation by haematology). Carbimazole 20 mg BD was started 2 days prior to admission by his general practitioner.The neutrop...

Over the past few years the number of children identified with vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency across the UK has increased. The Department of Health has recently reiterated the guidance for practitioners regarding at risk groups requiring surveillance and treatment recommendations. An audit in 2011 demonstrated that 30% of the children presenting to the paediatric orthopaedic service with musculoskeletal symptoms had vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency.<p class="abste...

The National Health Service and Nursing are currently facing challenging times. Continuing austerity measures combined with healthcare reform and a climate of professional uncertainty often results in nurses having to justify their existence.The quality, innovation, productivity and prevention (QIPP) initiative sets out how the National Health Service is to make efficiency savings whilst improving the quality of care that patients receive. With the appro...

Obesity, type-2 diabetes and low-grade inflammation are becoming worldwide epidemic. We and others have provided evidence that the gut microbiota contribute to the control of energy homeostasis. Therefore, we have defined a novel concept, that we called the ‘MicrObesity’ (microbes and obesity), devoted to decipher the specific role dysbiosis and its impact on host metabolism and energy storage.Over the last 15 years, our work has been devoted t...

Variation in quantitative traits such as human height is caused by a combination of multiple genes and environmental effects. Traditionally, since Galton in the late 1800s, the genetics of such traits has been studied using concepts that refer to the combined effect of all genes (e.g., heritability). Estimation of heritability for adult height are ~0.8, so that 80% of differences between people is due to genetic factors. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) facilitate the di...

Current osteoporosis therapy is predominantly ‘anti-resorptive’. Oestrogen antagonises the action of RANK-Ligand, a potent cytokine for osteoclast differentiation. Amino-bisphosphonates inhibit the HMG CoA reductase pathway, reducing osteoclast activity and viability, while denosumab is a human monoclonal antibody that binds to RANKL. Denosumab treatment reduces fractures. In a study of 7868 women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, denosumab reduced new radiographic v...

Osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease characterized by low bone mass leading to fractures that are associated with high mortality, morbidity and growing health care costs. Diagnosis of osteoporosis relies on dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) to measure bone areal density, which is constantly reported as a poor surrogate of bone fracture risk.Bone tissue is a composite of collagen, mineral and water, which multi-scale organization is increasingly...

During the progression from the lean to the obese state, adipose tissue undergoes hyperplasia as well as hypertrophy in an attempt to cope with the increased demand for triglyceride storage. This requires a high degree of plasticity at both the cellular and at the tissue level. Even though adipose tissue as a whole seems to be a relatively static tissue containing many adipocytes that turn over relatively slowly, these cells are embedded in an environment that can rapidly adap...