Endocrine Abstracts

Since the discovery of melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) as an important regulator of food intake it has been recognised as one of the major monogenic factors of obesity. However the mutations identified are usually very rare, not found in control subjects from the background population and can explain only a minor part of heritability (2–3%). Here we explore the role of non-synonymous mutations identified by MC4R sequencing in cohort of 380 severely obese individuals (BMI 3...

Background: It has been reported that primary treatment with somatostatin analogues (SSA) is effective in up to 60% of acromegaly patients, but predictive value of the acute octreotide suppression test (OST) for selection of patients with good response to depot SSA in long term treatment remains controversial.Patients and methods: Twelve medical therapy naive patients (mean age 44 years, female 75%) with active acromegaly were included in prospective stu...

Aim: To evaluate the relationship between insulin resistance and cutaneous vasomotor responses (endothelial-dependent vasodilatation and peripheral sympathetic failure: noradrenergic control of smooth muscle cells – vasoconstriction and neuropeptides induced vasodilatation) in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS).Methods and subjects: Patients with insulin resistance and MS (defined according to ‘The 2005 IDF definition of the metabolic syndro...

According to the hypothesis, the capillary albumin leakage parallels the degree of microalbuminuria, probably reflecting a generalized basement membrane abnormality, and relates with microvascular disfunction. The AIM of our study was to estimate postocclusive reactive hyperaemic response in patients with microalbuminuria. MATERIALS: Patients with microalbuminuria were divided into two groups: 18 patients with diabetic nephropathy (N) and 18 non-diabetic patients with glomerul...

Objective: Metformin is one of the most widely used drugs in primary therapy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Despite its overall efficiency in T2D treatment metformin shows significant proportion of patients suffering from number of side effects. So far number of polymorphisms mainly in genes coding for various metformin transporter proteins have been described in association with metformin efficiency. However, no information exists on influence of genetic variatio...

Background: Previous nation-wide survey on iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) in Latvia showed a mild iodine deficiency in 587 schoolchildren (median UI – 59 μg/l). At the time less than 1% of all edible salt was iodized. Despite of the results of National IDD Elimination Committee study, all preventive measures were limited to production of leaflets promoting voluntary iodine salt consumption and convincing industry to use iodized salt. In order to perform a 10-year ...

Background: Many patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are not reaching glycemic targets even by using different combinations of antidiabetic drugs, including insulin. On the other hand, intensified multidrug therapy is associated with increased risk of severe side effects and individualized selection of medication is essential. The aim of our study is to evaluate efficiency of personalized pharmacotherapy according to the genotype and phenotype of T2D patients.<p class="abs...