Endocrine Abstracts

Type I 5'-monodeiodinase (5'-MDI) converts thyroxine (T4) to triiodothyronine (T3). In fetal sheep, hepatic 5'-MDI activity increases near term in association with the prepartum cortisol surge. This study investigated the effect of maternal dexamethasone treatment, in clinically relevant doses, on hepatic and renal type I 5'-MDI activity and plasma thyroid hormone concentrations in fetal sheep.From 125 days of gestation (term 145 pl...

Objective:This study was designed to estimate the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver in Saudi type-2 diabetics attending medical outpatient clinic in a Saudi teaching hospital and to study some of their characteristics.Research Design and Method:The study was conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from September 2001 to September 2002. A sample of 116 patients was randomly s...

The mammalian corpus luteum secretes progesterone under the influence of luteinizing hormone (LH). LH acts by binding to its G-protein coupled receptor and elevating intracellular cAMP thus activating protein kinase A (PKA). However, the exact role of PKA in the regulation of progesterone secretion remains unelucidated. Thus in this study we have investigated the relationship between PKA expression/activity and progesterone secretion during luteinization. Human granulosa cells...

Dexamethasone is frequently used in diagnostic work-up of patients suspected of having Cushing's syndrome. We report the case of a young woman whose cortisol production paradoxically increased following dexamethasone administration. A 27 years old woman presented with intermittent facial rounding (see photos), weight gain (6 kg), hirsuitism, spontaneous bruising, menstrual irregularity. On examination the only feature to suggest Cushing's syndrome was very thin skin on the bac...

Hypopituitarism due to neurosarcoidosis is mainly seen in patients with extensive systemic disease. However, pituitary involvement can occur without other classical features of the disease, as illustrated by the following cases.Case 1: An Afro-Caribbean male presented in 1986 with failure of pubertal development aged 22. Initial investigations demonstrated hypothalamic hypogonadism, secondary hypothyroidism and a suboptimal cortisol response to hypoglyca...

Abstract for Society for Endocrinology Conference 2003Category: Clinical case report (Young Endocrinologist)AbstractTitle: A CASE OF HYPERTHYROIDISM PRESENTING AS HAEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCYAuthors: K.M. Evans, D.E. Flanagan; Dept. of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, PL6 8DHA 30 yr old man was referred to the Haematology department with axil...

QLS-H is a new, weighted QoL questionnaire developed for patients with hypopituitarism. We evaluated QLS-H data from UK patients in the HypoCCs International surveillance study, and compared results with a sample of the general UK population (n=1090).The QLS-H questionnaire was administered at baseline and at yearly intervals. Scores were corrected for age and gender differences, and expressed as Z-scores based on UK-specific reference ranges. Using this...

Hyponatraemia is recognised as a serious metabolic emergency with varied aetiology. We report an unusual case of hyponatraemia.A 36 year old woman was admitted following a seizure. Her relationship with her boyfriend had recently ended. She was disorientated with a GCS of 11/15. She was apyrexial and examination was unremarkable. Old notes recorded an interest in complimentary health and 'systemic' candidiasis.A drug overdose was suspected until plasma biochemistry ret...

Sporadic Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is an uncommon thyroid cancer. The prevalence has been studied in two large European studies(1,2). Serum calcitonin provides a highly sensitive and specific tumour marker for this. We shall present a case which typifies the presentation of MTC and discuss its relevance.A 71-year-old gentleman of Italian descent was admitted in 2001 with left lower limb cellulitis. It was documented that he had an incidental goitre, that had been p...

Aim:To study hypertension in diabetics and non-diabetics, it's degree of control and the type of antihypertensive agents used.Method:The study was conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Hypertensive patients being followed at the medical outpatient clinic from February 2001 to February 2002 were studied. They were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of diabetes. The following data were recoded; age, sex, na...