Endocrine Abstracts

Human adolescent pregnancy is characterised by poor pregnancy outcome; the risks of spontaneous miscarriage, prematurity and low birth-weight are particularly acute in girls who are still growing at the time of conception. Studies using an adolescent sheep paradigm demonstrate that in growing females who are overnourished throughout pregnancy, growth of the placenta is impaired resulting in a major decrease in lamb birth-weight relative to adolescent dams receiving a moderate ...

With increasing numbers of survivors from cancer at a young age the issue of fertility preservation has assumed greater importance. Female fertility preservation provides significantly different challenges to that for the male. Embryo freezing is now an accepted and well-established procedure in many centres, but is not available for children who do not have a partner. Cryopreservation using vitrification of mature oocytes has become increasingly successful, but requires the p...

ObjectiveTo establish a set of population derived reference ranges for plasma total testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and calculated free testosterone (FT) values especially in older men.BackgroundThe age-related decline in testosterone concentrations in men is gradual and both cross-sectional and longitudinal data have shown that there was a small but significant decline in total and free tes...

Corticosteroids are major contributors to normal blood pressure control and to hypertension. The diagnosis of 'primary aldosteronism' based on raised aldosterone: renin ratios is now common although demonstration of an adrenocortical tumour remains rare. Moreover, the relationship between aldosterone and renin or angiotensin II in essential hypertension is often disturbed, suggestive of altered control of aldosterone biosynthesis. Aldosterone is synthesised from 11-deoxycortic...

Thyroid hormone resistance is a rare condition, caused by mutations of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (THRB) gene, inherited in an autosomal dominant manner, resulting in decreased tissue sensitivity to thyroid hormone action, leading to high FT4 levels with normal TSH levels. We present a case of thyroid hormone resistance, initially misdiagnosed and treated as hyperthyroidism. An 8 year old girl was referred due to poor appetite, FT4 level was elevated (38.5 pmol/l) with ...

The biphasic effect of soy isoflavones (genistein and daidzein) on oestrogen receptor (ER)α+ breast cancer cell proliferation is well documented, with concentrations of ≤10 µM promoting proliferation, and growth inhibitory and apoptotic effects seen at concentrations ≥10 µM. However genistein concentrations as low as 1nM may inhibit the proliferation of some ERα-/β+ cells. This is at odds with epidemiological evidence ...

The liver performs essential functions including the control of blood nutrient levels; the synthesis of many blood proteins; the metabolism of bile components and the conversion of ammonia to urea for excretion by the kidney. Impaired urea synthesis is often the cause of coma and death in patients with liver failure. The only treatment for liver failure at present is transplantation.Stem cells may be a promising future resource for the treatment of acute...

Concerns on the noncomparibility of intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) methods have recently been voiced (Cantor T et al; Clin Chem 2006, 52, 1771–6). It is therefore important that any new iPTH immunoassays are thoroughly validated before routine use. We describe performance characteristics for an iPTH immunoassay on the ARCHITECT 8200i analyser as compared with iPTH measurement on the Diasorin LIAISON platform. Potassium EDTA plasma samples (n=80) we...

Background: An elevated plasma aldosterone to renin ratio (ARR) is widely accepted as being important for the detection of primary hyperaldosteronism. The ability to measure renin at extremely low concentrations is the most critical factor in determining the diagnostic reliability of the ARR. We carried out this study to establish a reference interval for the ARR as part of an evaluation of a new automated platform for the simultaneous measurement of aldosterone (PAC) and dire...

Aim - To assess the effect of transdermal testosterone (TT) on free testosterone concentrations in saliva and on short-term growth and bone turnover in boys with growth or pubertal delay.Method - Prospective, randomized, cross-over study over 26 weeks with 4 weeks of Run-In, 8 weeks of Treatment I (8 hours/12 hours), 4 weeks of Wash-Out, 8 weeks of Treatment II (8 hours/12 hours) and 4 weeks of final Wash-Out.Main Outcome Measures ...