Endocrine Abstracts

Oestrogen is an important regulator of the pituitary hormone prolactin (PRL) in vivo, although the regulation mechanism is poorly understood. Liganded oestrogen receptor (ER) synergises with the pituitary specific factor Pit-1 on the rat PRL promoter to facilitate chromatin looping and increased transcription; however, no such mechanism has been reported for the human PRL promoter, in which the ERE sequence is altered.In pituitary GH3 cells stably transf...

Background: numerous studies using a variety of quality of life (QOL) measures have shown multiple impairments in adults with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) compared to control subjects. There have been few studies however of QOL in a treated GHD population compared with healthy controls.Method: 120 adults with treated GHD ( >1 year) were given the following QOL questionnaires at annual review: SF36, Nottingham Health Profile, Disease Impact, Life F...

Oestrogens are capable of inducing rat prolactin gene transcription through liganded Oestrogen Receptor (ER) binding a degenerate oestrogen response element (ERE) sequence on the promoter 1440 bp upstream of the transcription start site. ER binding is thought to interact with DNA bound Pit-1 leading to chromatin looping bringing enhancer elements into proximity with the transcription start site. This ERE sequence, TGTCActaTGTCA, differs from the consensus GGTCAnnnTGACC by two ...

The neuroendocrine and immune systems are closely linked, and cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), secreted by immune cells or neighbouring pituicytes, may have important local effects on pituitary function to modulate endocrine mechanisms of regulation.We have analysed the transcriptional regulation of the human prolactin (hPRL) gene promoter by TNF-alpha. Using stably transfected GH3 cells expressing luciferase und...

A 28-year-old Asian female presented with a 2 year history of abdominal pain and bloating and irregular heavy periods. She had a normal menarche and had 3 uncomplicated pregnancies after conceiving naturally, the last 4 years before presentation. Investigations showed LH 0.7 IU/l (normal range 2-14 IU/l), FSH 8.6 IU/l (2-14 IU/l), oestradiol 2030 pmol/l (80-300 pmol/l), prolactin 346 mU/l, and normal alpha GSU (0.3mcg/l). Ultrasound scanning revealed enlarged multicystic ovari...