Endocrine Abstracts

We report the case of a 26 year old man who presented to his GP with infertility; biochemical investigations revealed elevated serum free thyroid hormones (FT4 41 pmol/l (12–22); FT3 13.4 pmol/l (2.8–7.1); and a normal TSH (2 pmol/l (0.27–4.2). He was referred to the endocrine department.On examination, he was found to be clinically well though thin (BMI 18), anxious and tremulous. His heart rate was 110 bpm and blood pressure was normal. ...

IntroductionThe mechanism by which hypertrophy of skeletal muscle occurs in response to anabolic androgens is incompletely understood. This study used a cell culture model of human skeletal muscle-derived cells, with samples obtained from consenting subjects and local ethics committee approval. The objective was to determine changes in myogenicity upon exposure to exogenous androgen +/− IGF-1 and to see whether an additive effect would be observed....

A 30year old Afrocarribean man with sarcoidosis presented with unexplained weight gain from 98kg to 112kg over 6 months. He had previously documented bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy, erythema nodosum, arthralgia, a positive gallium scan and a raised serum angiotensin converting enzyme(ACE).He also described hypersomnolence, impaired concentration, decreased libido and intermittent headaches with no other neuro-psychiatric symptoms. He was not on any regu...

A 30year old Afrocarribean man with sarcoidosis presented with unexplained weight gain from 98kg to 112kg over 6 months. He had previously documented bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy, erythema nodosum, arthralgia, a positive gallium scan and a raised serum angiotensin converting enzyme(ACE).He also described hypersomnolence, impaired concentration, decreased libido and intermittent headaches with no other neuro-psychiatric symptoms. He was not on any regu...

Understanding the molecular factors that regulate human muscle mass is acquiring increasing scientific interest. Hitherto, known (+ve) endocrine regulators of lean body mass included the GH-IGF-1 system, anabolic steroids, and (−ve) myostatin. In order to elucidate this process further, we have investigated a clinical case at a genetic and phenotypic level. A 46-year-old man with idiopathic muscle hypertrophy requiring multiple therapeutic fasciotomies underwent clinical...