Endocrine Abstracts

Background: 5α-reductase 1 (5αR1) metabolises steroids such as glucocorticoids and androgens, and is highly expressed in murine liver. Genetic disruption of 5αR1 leads to adverse metabolic changes in mice. We hypothesised that dutasteride, a 5αR inhibitor, induces insulin resistance in mice, as in humans, and this effect is underpinned by increased hepatic glucocorticoid action; an experimental paradigm was set up using A-348441, a liver-selective glucocort...

Background: Recent studies have suggested extensive associations between plasma levels of vitamin D and hepatobiliary diseases including viral hepatitis B or C. In hepatitis C, vitamin D deficiency may lead to a poor prognosis and a poor response to antiviral treatment. CHB has different pathophysiology. There has been no study on the association of vitamin D level and the ALT level in CHB patients, and it is not known whether vitamin D levels are associated with host response...

Sufficient vitamin D supply is essential for general health. The total 25-hydoxy-vitamin-D (t-25OHD) level refers to the vitamin D supply and can be measured with various methods. Since these methods are not independent of the serum matrix, differences can be obtained among vitamin D levels measured with different methods. Our aim was to study the vitamin D in healthy blood donors, taking also into consideration the use of oral contraceptives (OC).Method...

Aim: There is emerging evidence that survivors of BMT not only suffer long term endocrine sequelae, but also have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The UKCCSG guidelines suggest that BMT survivors should be monitored for cardiac and lung toxicities of previous treatments using cardiac ECHOs and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). We aimed to examine body composition, aerobic fitness, ECHOs and PFTs in adolescent and young adult survivors on GHTx....

Fertility preservation is a rapidly advancing area of medicine. Its clinical potential in adult women was demonstrated by ovarian function and successful pregnancy following ovarian cortical tissue cyropreservation and replacement in the sheep in the 1990s with the first successful human pregnancy reported in 2004. Since then some 25 babies have been born to women who have had ovarian tissue cryopreserved and subsequently replaced, with most of these women having been treated ...

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a recessively inherited deficiency of cortisol production affecting an estimated 1 in 10 000–20 000 live births. The salt-wasting form, which is found in over half of all children with CAH, may present with a potentially life-threatening crisis in with the newborn period while associated excess androgen production may result in girls being incorrectly assigned as boys at birth. Early detection by newborn screening, combined with cor...

Abstract unavailable....

We have found that many of the receptors and downstream signalling elements involved in taste detection and transduction are expressed also in intestinal hormone producing (endocrine) cells where they underlie key chemosensory functions of the gut. In one example of gastrointestinal chemosensation it is known that glucose given orally, but not systemically, induces secretion of the ‘incretin’ hormone glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which in turn regulates insulin se...

During the 10-year UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) post-trial monitoring period, sustained reductions were seen in the risks of diabetic complications, despite the previously randomised conventional and intensive treatment groups becoming identical with respect to median HbA1c values and glucose-lowering therapies. This continuing benefit of an earlier intervention in people with type 2 diabetes has been termed the ‘legacy effect’. A similar phenomenon seen in ...

The developing fetus adapts to an adverse in utero environment, and is ‘programmed’ to an increased risk of developing disease in later life. Fetal growth is regulated via a complex interplay between mother, placenta and fetus. Maternal nutrients, transported via the placenta, are essential for fetal growth. Conversely, the placenta may also respond to fetal endocrine signals to regulate maternal metabolism. The placenta also regulates fetal growth via production and...