Endocrine Abstracts

Case history: An 18 year old male student presented to the dentist with an eight week history of left-sided facial pain and swelling. He was subsequently referred to the maxillofacial team. His only previous medical encounter was for a traumatic right humerus fracture following a roller-skating injury. He took no regular medication. His father died of an unknown malignant process several years previous and family history was otherwise unremarkable. On questioning, the patient ...

Bone metabolism in men is in part determined by sex steroid exposure. This is especially clear during puberty and senescence but it remains to be established whether declines in sex steroid levels during young and middle adulthood associate with changes in bone mass and size. This study investigated changes in bone mineral content (BMC), areal and volumetric bone density (aBMD; vBMD) and bone size in relation to sex steroid levels in 999 young adult men (age 24- 46 years) of w...

Context: Previous studies suggest that patients with acromegaly were at higher risk of vertebral fractures (VFs) despite normal bone mineral density (BMD). However, these patients could have several associated endocrine deficits known to increase the fracture risk, such as hypogonadism. In addition, patients with acromegaly have radiological deformations of the spine, called Erdheim’s syndrome, which can overestimate the radiological VFs.Objective: ...

Background: Canonical Wnt-signalling is important for bone by regulating osteoblastogenesis and osteoblast function. Bone metabolism is also partly determined by sex steroid exposure and sex differences in serum sclerostin levels have been reported. However, it is unclear whether serum sclerostin and other circulating Wnt-signalling components are sex steroid dependent within healthy men.Objective: To determine whether serum sclerostin, osteoprotegerin (...

Background: Cross-sectional studies in small and selected populations indicate a relatively high prevalence of incipient and/or subclinical Cushing’s syndrome (CS) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), which could have therapeutic implications.Aim: To estimate the prevalence of CS in a large, unselected cohort of recently diagnosed T2D patients.Methods: A total of 384 consecutive out – patients with T2D diagnosed after ...

Glucocorticoids are widely prescribed therapeutic agents, however long term treatment can cause increased morbidity from adverse metabolic events, including weight gain and hyperglycaemia. The mechanisms and site of action which underpin these side-effects are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to characterise phenotypic, biochemical and neurohormonal responses in mice administered corticosterone, with a particular focus on changes seen in the early stages of chro...

Introduction: Familial Partial Lipodystrophy Type 1 (FPLD1) is characterised by loss of gluteal and limb subcutaneous fat and increased abdominal fat. The genetic basis is currently unknown. FPLD1 is frequently associated with metabolic problems including diabetes, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Despite central adiposity and severe metabolic abnormalities, this group of patients often do not qualify for NHS funding for bariatric surger...

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are widely prescribed to treat a number of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. However, patients receiving GCs often develop adverse metabolic effects such as hyperphagia leading to weight gain and hyperglycaemia. Little is known about the central effects of GCs; however they can act in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC), a region involved in the integration of other energy regulatory hormones such as leptin, insulin and ghrelin. Therefore, the ai...

Prostate cancer (PCa) is driven by the androgen receptor (AR) signalling axis and begins with prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), progressing to invasive adenocarcinoma and eventually metastatic disease. It is treated with androgen deprivation therapies, to which, in late-stage disease, tumours often become resistant and proliferation occurs in a low androgen environment. Mutation of the PTEN tumour suppressor gene is found in approximately 30% of primary human prostate...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the hepatic manifestation of the global epidemic of metabolic disease. Steroid hormones, including glucocorticoids and sex steroids, regulate metabolic phenotype, and in addition, bile acids have recently been identified as potent metabolic regulators. 5β-reductase (AKR1D1) is predominantly expressed in the liver and is a crucial regulator of steroid hormone clearance as well as bile acid synthesis. Its role in pathogenesis of metaboli...