Endocrine Abstracts

Heterotrimeric G proteins mediate signalling from 7 transmembrane domain receptors to a variety of intracellular effectors. Regulators of G protein signalling (RGS) are a novel family of proteins, that act as GTPase activating proteins. In the human myometrium signalling via G proteins may be altered during pregnancy and labour, suggesting a physiological role of G proteins in human gestation. Our aim was to investigate the expression of RGS proteins in the human myometrium. E...

One of the hallmarks of parturition in most mammals is a dramatic drop in plasma levels of progesterone (P4), which promotes myometrial relaxation, prior to labor. In humans and some other primates however, the opposite occurs and placental P4 production increases with advancing pregnancy. The expression of nuclear progesterone receptor (PR)-responsive genes is decreased in the primate uterus at term, which suggests ‘functional’ progestin withdrawal involves repressi...

Pregnancy, a state of insulin resistance (IR), is associated with elevated levels of cytokines and profound alterations in metabolism, directed towards supplying adequate nutrition for the fetus. Adiponectin, an adipokine with anti-inflammatory and insulin sensitising properties, plays an important role in energy homeostasis. Interestingly, in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a state of greater insulin resistance, serum adiponectin levels are lower than normal subjects. We...

Diabetes mellitus, characterised primarily by hyperglycaemia, is associated with a number of cellular stresses and changes that cause cardiomyocytes to adapt with those modifications that characterise the diabetic heart. Although orexins are cardiovascular regulators acting via the brain, little is known about their potentially critical roles in the heart. Orexins exert their actions by activating two distinct G protein coupled receptors, orexin-R1 (OXR1) amd orexin-R2 (OXR2)....