Endocrine Abstracts

The extracellular matrix protein laminin forms polymers both in vivo and in vitro. Acidification of pH leads to the formation of an artificial polymer with biomimetical properties, named poly-laminin (polyLM). Follicular cells in the thyroid are in close contact with laminin, but their response to this important extracellular signal is still poorly understood. Thyroid PCCL3 epithelial cells cultivated either on glass, regular laminin (LM) or laminin previously po...

Context: Previous studies have suggested that infections are an important cause of death in patients with Addison’s disease, but epidemiological studies on the frequency of infections in this population are scarce.Design and setting: We conducted a cohort study, using data from the Dutch PHARMO record linkage system, linking patients’ demographics and medical histories to the use of prescription drugs, diagnostic and therapeutic data from hospi...

It has been demonstrated that everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, has potent anti-proliferative effect in a human Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC) cell line, TT, and in two human MTC primary cultures. We aimed at evaluating the possible antiproliferative effects of everolimus in a group of 20 human MTC in primary culture. To this purpose, 20 MTCs were dispersed in primary cultures, treated without or with 1 nM – 1 μM everolimus, 10 nM SOM230, and/or 50 nM IGF1. Cell viab...

Background: The gut hormone PYY3-36 (PYY) is released into the circulation after eating and physiologically inhibits food intake. Obese and lean subjects are equally sensitive to this effect, however fasting levels of PYY are reduced in obese subjects.Methods: We investigated the postprandial PYY response and satiety response using a visual analogue scale (VAS) to 6 test meals of increasing calorie content in 20 lean and 20 obese subjects. We also infuse...

Background: Serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 levels respectively have a positive and negative association with subsequent risk of breast cancer. The anti-oestrogen tamoxifen is widely used as adjunctive therapy after resection of primary breast tumours. Tamoxifen has been reported to influence serum IGF-I, although its effects on BP-3 are unknown. The effects of tumour resection itself on IGF-I and BP-3 levels are unclear.Aims: To determine the effects of surgery...

Background: Papillary thyroid carcinomas are the most common thyroid malignancies. They are more prevalent in women and have a bimodal age distribution. Thyroglossal duct cyst carcinomas are extremely rare (occurring in only 1% of all thyroglossal duct cysts). The large majority of these carcinomas are of thyroid origin.Case presentation: A 25-year-old woman with no significant medical history was referred to the Endocrinologist with 1-month complaints o...

Introduction: Achieving an HbA1c of less than 48 mmol/mol minimises the risk of complications in children and young people with type one diabetes. Elective admissions to hospital are one option employed to improve glycaemic control in patients with an HbA1c above target. There is however limited evidence to support such admissions. We aimed to retrospectively compare glycaemic control between patients electively admitted to hospital to stabilise their dia...

Background: Familial male-limited precocious puberty (FMPP) or ‘testotoxicosis’ is a rare form of gonadotrophin-independent precocious puberty. There is a paucity of data on final adult height in these patients and no consensus on what constitutes appropriate treatment. Our aim was to assess the management and final height of patients with FMPP under our care as well as those reported in the literature.Methods: Growth data were obtained from no...

Disorders of sex development (DSD) are a group of conditions caused by atypical development of chromosomal, gonadal or anatomical sex which pose complex, long-term diagnostic, investigative and management challenges requiring expert teams and close collaboration with families and peer groups. The lack of nationally agreed clinical standards for the management of DSD has been recognised by the British Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, and these are now in develo...

Background: Endocrinology is a relatively young subspecialty of internal medicine. No consensus on international standards for training has been established, and hence the variability between training programs and endocrinologist qualifications may be great.Methods: A standardized questionnaire was constructed to explore individual national standards for endocrinology training, evaluating the responding programs for physician entry criteria for each prog...