Endocrine Abstracts

Glucocorticoids form the mainstay of many treatment modalities in paediatrics ranging from short term use in asthma to longer term use as anti-inflammatory agents in nephrotic syndrome and rheumatoid disorders. Long term use although effective brings with it the problems of adrenal suppression.When considering weaning a patient from glucocorticoid use consideration needs to be given to the type of glucocorticoid used, duration of treatment, dosage used a...

Unfortunately diabetes is a growing problem with now more than 537 million people worldwide having diabetes according to International Diabetes Federation. Excess morbidity and mortality in diabetes is related to the development of diabetic kidney disease seen in 30-40%, which not only causes end stage kidney disease, but also increases risk for cardiovascular events and mortality, which is the leading cause of death. Treatment of diabetic kidney disease has been control of gl...

Early detection, surgery and targeted treatments have seen remarkable improvements in cancer survival. Yet for many patients, cancers still relapse in distant organs after seemingly successful treatment of primary disease. The skeleton is one of the most common sites. Multiple myeloma develops directly in bone, whereas solid tumours, including breast and prostate cancers, spread to bone, often early in the clinical course, giving rise to incurable disease. It remains unclear h...

Convention places 17OHP measures as the way to monitor replacement therapy in congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to P450c21 deficiency. One case several years ago led to questioning of this approach as the 17OHP measures suggested inadequate replacement with hydrocortisone using a general dosing regimen of 12 mg/m2/day and questions about compliance. 24 h cortisol profiles showed high 17OHP concentrations with low cortisol concentrations. Careful studies ...

‘European Young Endocrine Scientists’ (EYES), founded in 2011, is a committee under the patronage of the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE). Our primary goal is to increase the mutual exchange of ideas and knowledge between early career researchers (ECR’s) across Europe, in both basic and clinical endocrinology. EYES enables ECR’s from all ESE member societies to actively contribute to the society’s activities and help them fully develop into the ...

The first line treatment of somatotroph adenomas is pituitary surgery, that aims at removing the tumor, but which is frequently incomplete, as invasion into cavernous sinuses often limits the surgical resection. Multimodal medical treatment, which is burdensome, very expensive and has variable therapeutic efficacy, is currently required in more than 60% of the patients. New therapeutic approaches are therefore necessary for controlling hormone secretion, tumor development and ...

The leptin-melanocortin signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in the regulation of body weight within the hypothalamus. Leptin, secreted by the adipose tissue, activates the leptin receptor at the arcuate nucleus, which in turn leads to the production of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) derived peptides as melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH). MSH activates the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R), regulating thereby satiety and energy expenditure. Mutations within this pathway are leadi...

Serum GH and IGF-I levels are closely correlated but discordance between GH and IGF-I levels can occur in patients with acromegaly either as a consequence of biological factors or as an artefact of the means of assessment or definitions of normality.Pegvisomant as a GH receptor antagonist lowers serum IGF-I but, due to negative feedback, increases GH levels. Raloxifene has been shown to lower IGF-I in men and women with acromegaly and oestrogen has been ...

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Low thyroid function in pregnancy is associated with adverse obstetric outcomes but it is unclear whether screening and initiation of levothyroxine during pregnancy is beneficial. The Controlled Antenatal Thyroid Study (CATS) was a randomised controlled trial which screened women for low thyroid function (subclinical hypothyroidism and isolated hypothyroxinemia) between 11 and 16 weeks gestation. CATS provides data on obstetric outcomes and offspring neurological development. ...