Endocrine Abstracts

In late pregnancy, the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is less responsive to immune challenge(1). Circulating and brain levels of allopregnanolone (AP), a neuroactive steroid and allosteric enhancer at inhibitory GABAA receptors, increase during pregnancy(2) and AP treatment attenuates stress-induced HPA activity in male rats(3). Here we sought a role for AP in attenuated HPA axis responses to interleukin-1-beta (IL-1B) in pregnant rats. Conscious pregnant (day 21) an...

Orexins are hypothalamic peptides known to stimulate food intake. Recently, orexins have been shown to activate the HPA axis at a central level1. We have previously shown that during late pregnancy the responsiveness of the HPA axis to a range of stressors is attenuated and suggested that the corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) neurones or pathways impinging on them are less responsive2. If the CRH neurones themselves are less responsive, they should al...

Mutations of the RET proto-oncogene are associated with MEN and FMTC and aid diagnosis and predictive testing in family members. Genotype-phenotype correlations are also used to plan therapeutic decisions. We describe a 4 generation family with a rare E768D mutation in exon 13. The index case was diagnosed with MTC at age 54 and remains free of clinical disease 11 years following thyroidectomy and neck irradiation. 2 further family members were identified with MTC at age 25 an...

A 14 year old girl was referred with a diagnosis, made at birth, of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. She had undergone clitoral reduction and vulvovaginoplasty at age 2. Her height had been on 10th-25 th centile, and, at presentation to us, she was taking prednisolone (7.5milligrams in divided doses) and fludrocortisone 0.05 milligrams. At age 14 her height dropped to the 3 rd centile. She was hirsute, obese and had abdominal striae. A variety of steroid regimes only led to an ...

Objective: to evaluate the role of pre-operative insulinoma localisation using selective intra-arterial calcium gluconate stimulated hepatic venous sampling.Method: Calcium gluconate (0.025 milliEquivalents Ca per kilogram) is used as a secretagogue to promote insulin secretion. Simultaneous catheterisation of right hepatic vein and pancreatic arterial supply were performed. The secretagogue was infused into the gastroduodenal, splenic, common hepatic an...

CGRP-alpha is a 37 amino acid peptide generated by alternative splicing of calcitonin gene transcripts. CGRP-alpha is present in a number of areas of the brain involved in the regulation of appetite, including the PVN. CGRP(8-37) is a competitive antagonist of CGRP-alpha at the CGRP-type 1 receptor. CGRP-alpha is known to inhibit food intake when given intracerebroventricularly, but the anatomical localisation of this effect is not known. Aims To investigate the effects of CGR...