Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: The main physiological function of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is the regulation of water and salt homeostasis as well as arterial blood pressure. In addition, the RAAS is proposed to be involved in the pathophysiology of several diseases like hypertension, vascular remodelling, atherosclerosis, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In a cohort study in north-east Germany, we investigated the association of plasma renin- (PRC) or plasm...

Background: In the classic paradigm, the primary function of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) was thought to passively bind and transport steroids and estrogens in the blood to access target tissues and to determine their bioavailable fraction. Now there is increasing evidence that SHBG plays an active role in steroid actions and is an actively contributes to many age-associated comorbidities including type 2 diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome (MetS).<p class="ab...

Objective: Although subclinical thyroid dysfunction is associated with cardiac endpoints such as endothelial dysfunction, left ventricular hypertrophy, thickened artery walls or atrial fibrillation, it is currently under debate whether subclinical hyper- or hypothyroidism as well as thyroid function within the reference range are associated with an increased risk of hypertension. So far no study investigated the association between thyroid function and blood pressure in childr...

Background: Osteocalcin (OC) is a bone-specific protein produced primarily by osteoblasts during bone formation. The OC concentration is used to assess fracture risk and monitor treatment of osteoporosis and other disorders of bone metabolism. To adequately interpret the OC concentration, it is necessary to calculate reference ranges from a healthy reference population, adapted to a specific laboratory method.Methods: We established a healthy reference p...

Objective: IGF1 has almost 50% amino acid sequence homology with insulin and elicits nearly the same hypoglycaemic response. Studies showed that low and high IGF1 levels are related to impaired glucose tolerance and to a higher risk of type two diabetes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between IGF1 level and insulin resistance in a Danish general population.Research Design and Methods: From the cross-sectional Health2006 stud...

Objective: In vitro and in vivo models revealed that the somatotropic system exerts central effects on the central nervous system. The objective of this study was to investigate for the first time whether varying endogenous IGF1 levels are associated with mental health outcomes, namely affective disorders, in humans.Design and methods: We included 6773 subjects from the DETECT study, a representative study on primary care patients in German...