Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Several devices are available for the administration of recombinant GH. A prospective study was undertaken to look at those attributes of GH delivery device most important to patients when making their choice.Objectives: i) To understand which features of a GH device are considered most important to patients when choosing a device. ii) Comparison of patient’s device preferences at start of GH treatment and after 2 years of treatment. iii...

Hereditary stomatocytoses, including cryohydrocytosis, are anaemias in which the erythrocyte membrane has increased permeability resulting in electrolyte leakage and thus haemolysis. Many forms and underlying molecular mechanisms exist. GLUT1 is present in the blood–brain barrier and erythrocytes, but GLUT1-deficiency does not usually affect erythrocytes. We describe a child with a stomatocytosis due to a SLC2A1 mutation presenting with hyperkalaemia, liver disease...

A 60-year-old man underwent investigations for weight loss and abdominal pain. A CT thorax/abdomen revealed a 2 cm right adrenal nodule, 3 nodules in the left adrenal all <1.4 cm and a 5 mm lung nodule in the right middle lobe. The single phase CT was unable to characterize the adrenal lesions. MRI adrenal showed solid mixed signal pattern in the nodules with signal drop off in opposed phase series consistent with adenomata. Twenty-four hour urine catecholamines, cortisol,...

Introduction: Peptide immunotherapy has been shown to be a simple and effective method of restoring tolerance and reversing disease in animal models of type 1 diabetes. It is highly important to administer the peptide interadermally into an environment in which antigen presenting cells such as dendritic cells are maintained in a tolerogenic state.Objective: Our aim was to determine whether topical pre-treatment of the skin has the potential to enhance to...

Diabetes is associated with an oxidative stress (OS). Free radicals are responsible of β-cell destruction in type 1 diabetes and their dysfunction in type 2. The purpose of this work is to evaluate preventive effect of antioxidative natural compounds on several models of OS induced on β-cells.The models of oxidative stress were performed with 40 μmol/l H2O2 for 30 min, with a mixture of 0.25 mmol/l hypoxanthine and 10...

The anti-inflammatory protein, annexin 1 (ANXA1) acts via a formyl peptide receptor (FPR), possibly FPR2, in the neuroendocrine system to mediate feedback effects of glucocorticoids and thereby modulate the HPA responses to immune insults. Here, we explored further the role of ANXA1 and the FPR family in mediating the HPA responses to endotoxin (LPS), focusing on the adrenal cortex.Adult male mice treated with LPS (500 μg/kg, i.p.) showed time-depen...

Cinacalcet increases sensitivity of the calcium sensing-receptor, currently licenced for treatment of refractory secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with end-stage renal disease. It decreases parathyroid hormone, calcium and phosphorus levels. There is no clinical data for the use of Cinacalcet in pregnancy. Hyperparathyroidism is rare during pregnancy, mainly presenting early, when surgery is safely performed. Here we report a patient presenting with a MEN1-associated p...

Background: There is lack of consensus in the management of pituitary apoplexy. Following the 11th Clinicopathological Pituitary Conference at the RCP (2009), a multidisciplinary group produced evidence-based guidelines for management of apoplexy. A patient with apoplexy and significant neuro-ophthalmic signs or reduced level of consciousness will usually undergo surgical decompression. It is unclear what defines a significant neuro-ophthalmic deficit. There is no objective to...

In normal woman, placental GH secretion increases during gestation and induces an increase of IGF-1 concentrations. In acromegalic women, increased pituitary GH secretion seems autonomous and IGF-1 increases in late stage of pregnancy related to placental GH. In a cohort of 46 women (mean age 31.7±4.5 years), acromegaly was due to micro (n=7) and macro (n=39) adenomas. Before the beginning of 59 pregnancies, women have been treated by transphenoidal surgery ...

Objectives: The audit was carried out to inform the development of a local protocol for investigation of patients with suspected sporadic phaeochromocytoma.Method: Details of all UCAT tests performed in 2006 for a catchment area of approximately 500 000 were obtained.Questionnaires were used to obtain further information about all the patients referred from primary care and secondary care patients with UCAT > upper limit of nor...