Endocrine Abstracts

Conventionally, an allosteric modulator is neutral in respect of efficacy and binds to a receptor site distant from the orthosteric site of the endogenous agonist. However, recently compounds being ago-allosteric modulators have been described i.e. compounds acting both as agonists on their own and as enhancers for the endogenous agonists in both increasing agonist potency and often providing additive efficacy - superagonism. The additive efficacy can also be observed with ago...

Androgen signaling is essential for male reproductive development and masculinization during fetal life. Developmental exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, not least those that disrupt androgen action, can lead to reproductive disorders such as cryptorchidism, hypospadias, and poor fertility. In rodent toxicity studies, as well as human epidemiological studies, a general biomarker for compromised fetal androgen signaling is a shorter anogenital distance (AGD) in male of...

Introduction: Hyperprolactinemia is usually an acquired condition. Typical clinical manifestations include hypogonadism, infertility, and galactorrhea. Rarely, hyperprolactinemia has been attributed to a variant in the prolactin receptor gene (PRLR), presenting as agalactia, without hypogonadism, infertility, or galactorrhea.Aim: In the current study we aimed to delineate the clinical phenotype and the genetic basis of marked hyperprolactinemia ...

Glucocorticoid hormones are used in the treatment of variety of diseases, due to their diverse range of effects. Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer, is one such disease treated by glucocorticoids (GCs). Although there has been much success in the treatment of ALL with GCs, drug resistance remains a problem, despite the detailed knowledge of the signalling networks underlying the GC actions through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Sys...

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated a high overall prevalence of testicular adrenal rest tumors (TART) in adults with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), whereas little is known about the prevalence in children. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of TART according to age and genotype.Design: Retrospective study, tertiary University centre.Patients and methods: In 47 male patients (age 2.6–40.3 yea...

Introduction: Maintenance immunosuppressive regimens after renal transplantation (RTx) most often include prednisolone which may induce secondary adrenal insufficiency. Adrenal insufficiency is a potentially life-threatening side effect to glucocorticoid treatment due to the risk of acute adrenal crisis. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of prednisolone-induced adrenal insufficiency in RTx patients receiving long-term low-dose prednisolone treatment.<p class="abstext"...

Glucocorticoids (GCs) have an important role in inflammation, apoptosis and immunosuppression and are among the most widely prescribed medications in clinical practice. GCs exert their effect by binding to the transcription factor, glucocorticoid receptor (GR). GCs are used in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) as they induce apoptosis in lymphoid cells, however resistance and side effects still occur frequently. Computational modeling has enormous potential ...

Vitamin D supplementation in childhood improves the achievement of peak bone mass. We investigated the effect of calcitriol on bone turnover in recent-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D). Moreover, the association between osteocalcin (OC) and metabolic control was examined.We conducted a post-hoc analysis of a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of calcitriol supplementation to preserve β-cell function. Twenty-seven recent-onset T1D, mean age 25.6...

Background: Extreme hypercalcemia is an endocrine emergency. Given parathyroid hormone (PTH)-dependent cause, carcinoma should be suspected as a possible etiology. The prevalence of parathyroid carcinoma among patients presenting with extreme hypercalcemia is not well elucidated.Aim: Establish proportion of patients with parathyroid carcinoma among those presenting with severe hypercalcemia and compare clinical and laboratory features between benign and ...

Autoimmune Addison’s disease (AAD) results from the immune mediated selective destruction of adrenal steroid hormone-secreting cells. Autoantibodies (Abs) against 21-hydroxylase (21OH) are diagnostic present in 85–90% newly diagnosed patients. Its genetic susceptibility is conferred by human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DQ2 and DQ8. In many patients autoimmunity extends forming the autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 2 (APS-2). The aim of this study was to test, whethe...