Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction Diabetes is a strong risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Coronary artery calcium measurement (CAC) provides a non-invasive accurate assessment of the presence and severity of CHD, and thus the need for further cardiological investigations and risk-factor modifications.Methods We analysed data from CACS assessment on 3337 male subjects who had no cardiovascular symptoms, of whom 188 had diabetes. CACS was measured by an Electron Bea...

Central obesity is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Pre-adipocyte proliferation and differentiation contribute to increases in adipose tissue mass, yet the mechanisms that underpin these processes remain unclear. Patients with glucocorticoid excess develop central obesity, but circulating cortisol levels in idiopathic obesity are normal. The enzyme 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) converts inactive cortisone (E) to active cortisol (F)...

Introduction: The antitumor activity of a novel cyclic amide, CLM94, with anti-VEGFR-2 and antiangiogenic activity, in primary anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) cells in vitro and in vivo, has been studied.Design and Methods: CLM94 was tested: i) in two human cell lines (HMVEC-d, dermal microvascular endothelial cells; 8305C, undifferentiated thyroid cancer) at 0.001–100 mcM; ii) in ATC cells at the concentrations of 10, 30, 50 mcM; iii)...

Introduction: Vaspin, identified as a novel insulin-sensitizing adipokine, is suggested to be dysregulated in T2DM patients with loss of association between circulating vaspin levels, BMI and insulin resistance (IR). The aim of this study was to examine whether restrictive bariatric surgery in severely obese women with T2DM leads to a realignment of vaspin and metabolic factors early following surgery and before complete resolution of diabetic status.Met...

Introduction: Assessment of the efficacy of surgical treatment for Cushing’s disease (CD) is one of the biggest challenges in contemporary endocrinology. The aim of this study was prospective evaluation of factors influencing the result of transsphenoidal surgery for CD.Methods: The study population consisted of 36 consecutive patients with CD hospitalized in the Department of Endocrinology from 2005 to 2009 and operated on using the same surgical p...

In utero exposure of female lambs to testosterone affects ovarian function such that ovaries contain multiple, abnormally large antral follicles. This study characterises further the follicular and cellular abnormalities underlying excessive and prolonged large antral follicle growth. Pregnant Poll Dorset ewes were injected twice weekly (30–90 days of gestation) with 100 mg of testosterone propionate in 1 ml oil, while controls received vehicle injection only. Andr...

Objective: Insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II), a critical regulator of placental development, enhances proliferation and survival of human cytotrophoblasts by signalling through the IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R). Excess IGF-II binds to IGF-2R, which mediates its transport to the lysosomes for degradation. Although considered to act solely as an IGF-II clearance receptor, IGF-2R has been implicated in mediating IGF-II-stimulated migration and invasion in trophoblast. We therefore...

Genome wide association (GWA) studies have revolutionised the search for new susceptibility loci for complex diseases such as Graves’ disease (GD), by confirming association of known genes and identifying several novel susceptibility loci. The high density lipoprotein binding protein (HDLBP) on chromosome 2q37 is one such novel locus recently identified by the WTCCC as part of a 14 500 nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) screen performed in 900 UK C...

BackgroundChronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating condition with high morbidity and associated reduced quality of life. There are data suggesting neuro-endocrine axis involvement in CFS including disturbance in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, growth hormone axis, opioidergic system and interactions with 5-Hydroxy Tryptamine (5-HT) system. Studies with selective 5-HT-releasing agents, using prolactin or cortisol responses to stimulation, fou...

Aim: To evaluate the relationship between insulin resistance and cutaneous vasomotor responses (endothelial-dependent vasodilatation and peripheral sympathetic failure: noradrenergic control of smooth muscle cells – vasoconstriction and neuropeptides induced vasodilatation) in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS).Methods and subjects: Patients with insulin resistance and MS (defined according to ‘The 2005 IDF definition of the metabolic syndro...