Endocrine Abstracts

BackgroundThere is no universal consensus regarding vitamin sufficiency status with values either above 20 ng/ml, or 30 ng/ml being quoted as denoting ’sufficient’ status. We have endeavoured to assess the effects of summer sunshine exposure on vitamin D status from a single GP practice in central Poland.Subjects and methodsWe measured concentrations of vitamin D, parathyroid hormone (PTH), creatini...

Back groundBoth pregnancy and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) constitute insulin-resistant states, while gestational diabetes (GDM) is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Though screening for GDM is typically performed later in pregnancy, some women demonstrate significant insulin resistance (IR) and develop GDM even in 1st trimester. We have endeavoured to compare surrogate IR indices in 1st trimester pregnant women and in...

Background: Copeptin (pre-proAVP) secreted in equimolar amounts with vasopressin (AVP) closely reflects AVP release. Previously it was shown that copeptin is stimulated in standard pituitary function tests acting through hypothalamic centres. Furthermore, copeptin has been shown to subtly mirror stress potentially mediated via CRH. To further test a potential direct interaction of CRH with copeptin release which could augment AVP effects on pituitary function, we investigated ...

Background: Copeptin, the C-terminal part of the arginine vasopressin (AVP) precursor, is a 39-amino acid peptide stoichiometrically secreted with AVP in 1:1 ratio from the posterior pituitary. In contrast to AVP, copeptin remains stable ex vivo for several days in serum or plasma. Here, we investigated the use of the copeptin assay in the diagnostic workup of patients with suspected anterior pituitary dysfunction.Patients and methods: We measur...

Backgroud: Though insulin resistance (IR) is common in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), there is no agreement as to what surrogate method of assessment of IR is most reliable.Aim: We compared methods based on measurements of fasting insulin and either fasting glucose (HOMA-IR and QUICKI), or triglycerides (TAG) (McAuley index) with insulin resistance (Belfiore) index (IRI) derived from glucose and insulin during a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)...