Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Evidence suggests associations between vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular risk factors, including hypertension and excessive cortisol levels. Also, vitamin D levels may be associated with exercise performance. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effects of vitamin D intake on cardiovascular risk factors, free urinary cortisol and exercise performance.Methods: A randomised placebo controlled single-blinded parallel trial was conducted in he...

The synthesis and metabolism of bile acids and steroid hormones are conflicted at several levels. We investigated potential interactions using a feeding paradigm to stimulate bile acid secretion and salivary steroid measurements to monitor post-prandial changes.The study followed a randomised cross over design; both cortisol and cortisone were measured by specific ELISAs to assess effects on 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity (11βHSD). At...

Previous observational studies suggest that low 25(OH)D concentrations in childhoodmight have deleterious effects on vasculature. The present study addresses this key knowledge gap with the use of a dose-response randomized clinical trial (RCT) aimed to determine the effect ofone-year vitamin D supplementationon carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) in overweight and obese school children. The current study was a single-blind RCT. A total of 378 children and adolescents, 6&#82...

Background: Recently, vitamin D has received an enormous attention, primarily at the public health level due to its numerous biological effects. It has been suggested that vitamin D deficiency may adversely affect blood pressure and the cardiovascular system. The aim of this project was to determine the possible effects and association between vitamin D intake, blood pressure, glucocorticoids and CVD risk factors.Methods: Two pilot studies have been carr...

Background and aims: Previously we showed that the bioactive liquorice constituent glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) inhibits not only 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzymes but also the sulphation of corticosteroids by the enzyme sulphotransferase 2A1 (SULT2A1). Since pregnenolone, 17α-hydroxy-pregnenolone, deoxycorticosterone (DOC) and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) are all prime substrates for SULT2A1, GA could have important effects in directing pathways of glucocorticoi...

Liquorice root has been used medicinally for many years to treat dry cough, asthma, hunger, thirst, sterility of women, fever, digestive problems and pathologies of organs such as lungs, stomach, intestines and kidney. Glycyrrhetinic acid (one of the active constituents in liquorice) has diverse in vitro effects as an inhibitor of 11β hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11HSD), 5α reductase and hormone receptor binding. The aim of this study is to investigate the ef...

Background: Hypertension, obesity and hyperlipidemia are key interlinked features of both metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Numerous studies have suggested that green tea may reduce blood pressure by activating endothelial nitric oxide synthase and reducing total cholesterol by disrupting the production of apo B and synthesis of chylomicrons and thus have cardio-protective effects. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the effects of increasing the consum...

Deoxycorticosterone (DOC: a weak mineralocorticoid) is the precursor to corticosterone (B: the major glucocorticoid in rodents) and aldosterone. Cyp11b1 encodes 11β-hydroxylase which catalyses the conversion of DOC to B in rodents. The aim of this study is to develop sensitive and specific ELISA methods to estimate urinary DOC and B levels in mice. Antibodies against DOC and B were raised in rabbits by our laboratories as previously described and HRP-Goat anti-Rabbit IgG ...

The majority of immunoassays used to measure aldosterone (most potent mineralocorticoid) levels are still based on radio-iodinated tracer, lack sensitivity and specificity and there is a definite need for their improvement. The aim of this project is to develop a highly sensitive and specific ELISA method for urinary aldosterone estimation in samples obtained from wild type and cyp11b1 knockout mice. Antibodies against aldosterone were raised in sheep as previously described. ...

Background: Alemtuzumab is an anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody used in the treatment of relapsing and remitting Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It is a highly effective medication however common side effects of the treatment can include Autoimmune thyroid disease (Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, anti-glomerular basement membrane disease, neutropenia, haemolytic anaemia, vitiligo being the most common presentation. This case highl...