Endocrine Abstracts

The pulsatile release of GnRH regulates the synthesis and secretion of pituitary FSH and LH. Two transcription factors, the cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) and inducible cAMP early repressor (ICER), have been implicated in the regulation of rat FSHβ gene expression. We hypothesized that CREB and ICER are activated by distinct signaling pathways in response to pulsatile GnRH to modulate FSHβ gene expression, which is preferentially stimulated at low (ever...

Background: Recent studies have shown that adult human possess active brown adipose tissue (BAT), which might be important in affecting obesity and related metabolic risk. However, the supporting evidence in large population based studies is sparse.Methods: We studied 4011 (2688 males and 1323 females) tumor-free Chinese adults aged 18–89 for BAT activities, visceral/subcutaneous fat areas and metabolic parameters. In vivo 18F-fluorodeoxygluc...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders affecting reproductive women. Treatments with Chinese herbal mixtures (HM) and electro-acupuncture (EA) have been proven efficient in clinic. This study evaluated the peripheral and central effects of HM and EA in dihydrotestosterone (DHT)-induced PCOS rats. The female Wistar rats were divided into control (C), control with placebo (CP), DHT-induced PCOS model (PCOS), PCOS model exposed to herbal mi...

Introduction: Excessive iodine intake can cause iodine overnutrition, goiter and other thyroid disease. This study is to probe the determinants of children’s iodine nutrition and their goitrous and nodular prevalence in areas with excessive iodine in drinking water in Hebei province of China. Methods Three townships were selected by simple random sampling among the 8 townships with median water iodine being 200–300 μg/l in Hengshui prefecture of Hebei province. ...

Similar to thyroid hormones, the calcineurin/NFAT pathway regulates bone mass via its actions in osteoblasts and by indirect effects on osteoclast function. Calcineurin is a calcium- and calmodulin-activated phosphatase that dephosphorylates the transcription factor NFAT enabling its translocation to the nucleus. RCAN2 is an inhibitor of calcineurin that is stimulated by T3 in brain, heart and skeletal muscle although its expression in bone has not been studied. Thu...

Cytosolic calcium signalling controls a vast number of cellular functions, such as contraction, secretion, cell growth and cell division. The increase of [Ca2+]i evoked by G-protein coupled receptor activation has two closely related components, i.e. the rapid phase of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate-mediated Ca2+ release from ER stores, and followed by Ca2+ entry through store-operated channels (SOCs) in plasma membrane. Orai and STIM p...

Background/aims: Saxagliptin is a potent, selective dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, specifically designed for extended inhibition of the DPP-4 enzyme. Saxagliptin is cleared by both metabolism and renal excretion. The aims of this study were to determine the effect of renal impairment (RI) and haemodialysis (HD) on the pharmacokinetics of saxagliptin.Methods: This open-label, parallel-group study was conducted in subjects with normal renal func...

The transient receptor potential canonical channels (TRPC) are a new family of Ca2+-permeable cationic channels controlling the Ca2+ influx response to the activation of the G-protein coupled receptor or the depletion of the internal Ca2+ store, which is related to the cellular signalling mechanisms of many hormones or growth factors. The role of TRPC channels in cancer development is still unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the expres...

Somatostatin is an inhibitory regulator with important cellular effects whose actions are mediated through the G protein-coupled somatostatin receptors 1-5 (sst1-5). We have previously described the existence of sst2 in human endometrium, but the expression for other isoforms was unknown. The precise control of cellular proliferation and angiogenesis in the endometrium is not yet fully understood, and we hypothesise that somatostatin may have a role.<...

Background: Hyperuricemia is often associated with chronic kidney diseases (CKD) and is considered as an independent risk factor of cardiovascular and renal diseases. Urate transporter 1 (URAT1), organic anion transporter 1 (OAT1) and OAT3 are believed to play pivotal roles on urate excretion in kidneys. Activation of RAAS in the kidney plays a key role in the pathophysiology of CKD. Thus, we hypothesized that RAAS may be involved in hyperuricemia in patients with CKD by effec...