Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Severe hypoglycemia induced by sulfonylurea overdose is a result of insulin hypersecretion. Pasireotide (SOM230) is a multireceptor-targeted somatostatin analogue with high affinity for somatostatin receptor subtypes sstr1,2,3 and especially sstr5, which are expressed on rat and human β cells; pasireotide has been shown to inhibit insulin secretion in both species. The aim of these studies was to investigate the ef...

Objective: Cystatin C (CysC) is a marker for estimation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and a predictor of mortality, beyond that provided by GFR. CysC increases with abdominal obesity and insulin resistance independently of GFR, not necessarily due to changes in renal clearance but possibly due to changes in production. Non-GFR determinants of CysC remain poorly defined. GH or thyroid hormone excess (acromegaly and hyperthyroidism) lead to concomitant increases in GFR and...

Introduction: C1q/TNF-related protein-3 (CTRP-3) is a newly discovered adipokine with anti-inflammatory impact on monocytes by down-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, e.g. interleukine 6 (IL6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), in both adipocytes and monocytes. So far it is unclear which kind of interactions and molecular mechanisms are underlying the observed effects. Our aim is to characterize the differential effects of the globular and the collagenous doma...

Background: Thyroid hormones increase both serum levels of cystatin C and renal glomerular filtration rate (reflected by lower serum creatinine); the latter is considered the main determinant of cystatin C levels. A potential explanation for this apparently discrepant finding is an increased production, rather than a decreased clearance, of cystatin C. To study whether 3,3′,5-triiodo-L-thyronine (T3) increases the production of cystatin C in a w...

The novel somatostatin receptor agonist SOM230 (pasireotide) binds with high affinity to somatostatin receptors sst1, sst2, sst3 and sst5. Acting principally through the latter, it inhibits basal and CRH-stimulated ACTH secretion from the AtT20 mouse corticotroph cell line and ACTH release from a proportion of human corticotroph adenomas both in vitro and in vivo. Data suggesting an additional antiproliferative effect has led to SOM230 being explored as a potenti...

Introduction/case report: Diabetes mellitus is an important clinical manifestation of catecholamine excess in patients with pheochromocytoma, and glucose control is usually better after tumour removal. Both impaired insulin secretion and increased insulin resistance have been implicated as underlying causes. We describe the case of a 38-year-old male patient diagnosed with left adrenal pheochromocytoma and personal history of diabetes mellitus diagnosed at age 36, under treatm...

Aim: Serum TSH is the target value by which adequate thyroid hormone supply can easily be monitored in patients with primary hypothyroidism. It is controversial when TSH should be measured before thyroxine dose adjustments are made, 4–8 weeks are recommended. To define the time when dose adjustments of thyroxine are feasible more clearly, we looked at the time required to reach stable TSH levels.Methods: We prospectively studied a case series of pat...

Background: The exon-3 deletion in the growth hormone receptor gene (d3 GHR) leads to an enhanced GH signal transduction. Acromegalic patients with the d3 GHR genotype could be expected to have more marked clinical or biochemical manifestations for a given GH level than those with the wild (fl) type GHR. We studied acromegalic patients for clinical and/or biochemical disease recurrence after surgery in relation to GHR genotype status to assess whether d3 GHR influences the rel...

Context: Serum calcitonin (hCT) measurement may be useful for detecting medullary carcinoma (MTC), but the routine use of hCT and after pentagastrin stimulation to screen patients with nodular thyroid disease remains controversial.Patients: One thousand and seven patients (667 females, 440 males) with nodular thyroid disease and a mean age of 55±14 (mean±S.D.) years were included in the study. All patients did not have impaired r...

Somatostatin (somatotrophin release inhibiting factor; SRIF) is produced primarily in the hypothalamus and pancreas and inhibits the secretion of many hormones and neurotransmitters. Moreover, SRIF and SRIF analogs are able to inhibit tumor growth. Many human neuroendocrine and non-neuroendocrine tumors express the five known somatostatin receptors (sst1–5) in different amounts.Tachyphylaxis after prolonged treatment with octreotide (Sand...