Endocrine Abstracts

The aim of this study was to simultaneously profile, using electrospray ionization liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (ESI-LC-MS), prostanoids (PG) produced in samples of: pregnant preterm non labouring (PTNL); term non labouring (TNL): and term labouring (TL) myometrium.Lower segment samples were obtained at Caesarean section from consenting pregnant women (18–36 years of age) at term (38–41 weeks) and preterm (33 weeks) gestation. Sample...

Back ground: Pituitary adenomas are the most common cause of a mass in the sella, accounting for up to 10–15% of intracranial neoplasm’s1. However, when dealing with abnormal intrasellar masses, a number of different etiologies are possible: germ cell tumour, metastatic tumours, granulomatous, and inflammatory processes2. We report an unusual case of primary pituitary lymphoma diagnosed on biopsy presenting as panhypopituitarism and Diabetes Ins...

The aim of this study was to simultaneously profile, using electrospraionization liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (ESI-LC-MS), prostanoids (PG) produced in the pregnant labouring (L) and non labouring (NL) myometrium.Lower segment samples were obtained at Caesarean section from consenting pregnant women (18–36 years of age) at term gestation (38–41weeks). Samples were transported to the laboratory and immediately bathed in physiological ...

Recent genome wide screens performed by the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium using 500k single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) genotyping arrays have detected several novel susceptibility loci for the common autoimmune diseases (AIDs): Crohn’s disease (CD), type 1 diabetes (T1D) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). PTPN2, which encodes TCPTP an important negative regulator of inflammation, is one such locus. The rs2542151 SNP in PTPN2 was shown to be highly a...

Autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD), Graves’ disease (GD) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) are common, but there is limited information on the prevalence of co-existing auto-immune diseases (AID). We prospectively collected 3309 patients with AITD and determined prevalences of other autoimmune diseases in index cases and relatives. Overall, 10.3% of 2806 GD patients and 18.1% of 503 HT subjects reported a co-existing AID. Rheumatoid arthritis was the commonest AID in ...

Research indicates that low testosterone is associated with CAD in men. Evidence suggests that men with hypotestosteronemia and concomitant CAD may benefit from physiological testosterone replacement therapy (PTRT). The mechanism by which testosterone produces these cardio-protective effects and the role of the androgen receptor remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether testosterone modulates atheroma formation via its classical signalling pathway...

In addition to the HLA gene region, two further genes involved in the inhibition of T cell signalling, CTLA-4 and PTPN22, have been consistently associated with autoimmune disease (AID), highlighting the important role played by molecules in this pathway in AID susceptibility. The Programmed Cell Death 1 gene (PDCD1) on chromosome 2q37.3 encodes PD-1 which is involved in providing a negative signal to activated T cells. Large case-control studies have show...

Research indicates that low testosterone is associated with CAD in men. Evidence suggests that men with hypotestosteronemia and concomitant CAD may benefit from physiological testosterone replacement therapy (PTRT). The mechanism by which testosterone produces these cardio-protective effects and the role of the androgen receptor remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether testosterone modulates atheroma formation via its classical signalling ...

Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) such as PTPN22, that encodes lymphoid tyrosine phosphatase (LYP), are important regulators of cell signalling. LYP, through interaction with various accessory molecules including Grb2 and Csk kinase, has been shown to be particularly important in regulating signal transduction from the T cell receptor. The identification of PTPN22 as a susceptibility locus for Graves’ disease (GD) led us to hypothesise that other PTPs may...

Introduction: Generalised lipodystrophy is clinically characterised by lipoatrophy, hepatomegaly, hypertriglyceridemia, insulin resistance and acromegaloid features. It is recognised that diencephalic syndrome is a rare presentation of hypothalamic tumours in infants and young children. Children with this disorder have profound emaciation and generalised loss of subcutaneous fat, growth acceleration, hyperkinesia and euphoria. Hypothalamic tumours, particularly pilocytic astro...