Endocrine Abstracts

In most mammals the onset of labour is regulated by an abrupt fall in circulating progesterone concentrations or a rise in circulating oestrogens. In humans, however, no dramatic change is observed in circulating steroid concentrations prior to labour and the mechanisms regulating the onset of labour have remained obscure. In a series of studies we have shown that placental production of the peptide hormone CRH increases exponentially across gestation peaking at the time of la...

Background: A variety of preparations for testosterone replacement therapy are currently available. Testogel, a transdermal gel, is widely used and considered one of the most convenient. However, a wide variation in the increment of serum testosterone two hours after its application has been reported.Aim: To investigate whether skin thickness affects the absorption of testogel.Subjects and methods: Fourteen patients (mean age 55.4 ...

In recent times, there has been concern about the rising prevalence of obesity in children. Physical fitness, defined as a set of attributes possessed by individuals which relates to the ability to perform physical activity, is a key pathway to healthy living. As part of a larger programme called ‘Triple S’, (designed to underpin a schools health related project) we undertook field-based physical testing of 1733 (7 yr olds) (902 M & 831 F) from 49 primary schools...

Background: The sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) frequently shows diminished targeting to the plasma membrane (PM) in differentiated thyroid cancer, resulting in suboptimal radioiodine treatment and poor prognosis. However, the mechanisms which govern the endocytosis of NIS away from the PM – its sole site of transport activity – are ill-defined, and may be of direct therapeutic potential. We previously showed that the proto-oncogene PBF binds NIS and enhances its inter...

Adult GH deficiency (GHD) is associated with prediabetes and low levels of GH are found in obesity. We hypothesized that zinc-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG), a novel adipokine reduced in obesity, is regulated by GH. ZAG serum and adipose tissue expression were measured in three study populations: i) cachectic (BMI=19.3±0.5 kg/m2), lean/overweight (BMI=26.0±0.5 kg/m2) and obese (BMI=36.0±1.6 kg/m2) patients with chronic obstructive pu...