Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The most significant hypotheses regarding biological causes of transsexualism are based on the role of environmental hormonal exposure on neural development.Aim: This study was to analyse the baseline hormonal results in a population of transsexuals attending a single clinic to identify any abnormalities in hormone levels in these individuals.Method: A retrospective cohort study was carried out using data collected from...

Background: Transsexuals in Britain are prescribed hormones as part of Gender Reassignment Treatment. Oestrogen therapy is associated with the development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with a 25 fold increased risk, and breast cancer; particularly in the older age group and smokers.Aims: To investigate the risk of developing deep vein thromboses in male to female transsexual patients who are, or have been, on oestrogen therapy, and seeing if this differs...

Familial Hypocalciuric Hypercalcaemia (FHH), originally described in 1966, was first linked to mutations in the Calcium-Sensing Receptor (CaSR) gene in 1993. FHH results from inactivating mutations affecting a single allele inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. The calcium-sensing receptor is a cell surface-expressed G protein-coupled receptor with 1078 amino acids. Gene mutations are usually single-point in nature and result in an elevated set point for calcium sensing ...

The index case, a 26-year-old man, presented with a 15-month history of gynaecomastia. Investigations revealed a large left-sided adrenal mass that secreted oestrone and oestradiol, with suppression of FSH, LH and testosterone production. It was removed in 1991 with correction of the hormonal abnormalities and follow-up has shown no recurrence to date.In April 2001 the eighteen-month old daughter of the index case developed greasy skin, acne, pubic hair...

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) is an important signal for mammary gland development and epithelial cell survival. Following lactation, the mammary gland undergoes involution through extensive epithelial cell apoptosis and thus, the IGF-I survival signal must be inhibited. IGF actions are regulated by association with high affinity binding proteins (IGFBPs) and the aim of this study was to investigate the expression of IGFBPs during mouse mammary gland development to determ...

Background: Radioactive iodine (RAI) is a safe and effective treatment for management of hyperthyroidism caused by Graves’ disease and multinodular goitres. However, patient engagement with this therapy is limited by concerns regarding significant weight gain following treatment. We therefore aimed to audit weight changes in individuals receiving RAI within our service and identify factors that may influence this outcome.Met...

Pre-eclampsia is a life-threatening disease occurring in 4.6% of pregnancies characterised by multi-organ dysfunction. Placental dysfunction is implicated with release of factors causing systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. Mild hyponatraemia (130–135 mmol/l) is regarded as physiological in normal pregnancy. Severe hyponatraemia (<125 mmol/l) is a rare life-threatening complication of pre-eclampsia. Severe hyponatraemia and hyperkalaemia has been reporte...

Primary hyperparathyroidism is a common cause of hypercalcaemia increasing in prevalence with age peaking in females at 70-90 years of age (492 cases/100,000 population) and in males above 80 years of age (264 cases/100,000 population). Immobilisation hypercalcaemia is regarded as an uncommon non-parathyroid hormone dependent cause of hypercalcaemia typically occurring in young patients with spinal cord injuries and neuromuscular disorders. It is of complex physical and molecu...

Introduction: For the last 2 years we have been giving regular diabetes education sessions in conjunction with our hospital school, based around maths skills. These went well, but we wanted to develop these further, making them more patient centred. We gained a grant from the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation and designed a 4 day programme with ‘The Puppet Project’ and ‘WAC arts’. This was done very much in collabaration with our hospital school who...

Introduction: Copeptin is the C-terminal fragment of proAVP and provides an alternative measure of AVP secretion. While direct measurement of AVP during hypertonic saline infusion has been recommended as a diagnostic test for diabetes insipidus (DI), the number of reports examining the utility of copeptin in this context is limited. Here we describe a series of cases where measurement of copeptin during saline infusion has contributed to ...