Endocrine Abstracts

Glucocorticoid (GC) excess is associated with significant brain morphological changes including loss of volume and cerebral atrophy. These effects correlate with the degree and duration of GC elevation1. The neuropsychological abnormalities associated with GC excess, however, remain poorly understood2. Patients with Cushing’s syndrome represent a useful model in which to study the effects of severe and prolonged GC excess.We pr...

We describe two cases of Conn’s syndrome both of whom had hyperprolactinaemia of which one was associated with pituitary adenoma, possibly as part of MEN 1.The first patient was a man aged 52 who presented with hypertension present for 10 years and a marginally low serum potassium. He was on doxazosin, lisinopril, candesartan and celiprolol. His Aldosterone/Renin ratio (8500:1) was very high suggestive of primary hyperaldosteronism. The patient was ...

ObjectiveThis explorative study is concerned with assessing the psychosocial impact of living with a pituitary condition. In collaboration with the Pituitary Foundation, who work to understand and represent the experiences of patients, this study explored the psychosocial issues that are evident for and identified by patients with a pituitary condition (anxiety, depression and appearance related distress).Method<p class="abstex...

Adrenal/periadrenal sarcomas are very rare entity of adrenal tumours. An epidemiological analysis of primary adrenal cancers found prevalence of adrenal sarcoma of 1.3% compared to adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) 43.8%, neuroblastoma 39.7%, pheochromocytoma 10.9% and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma 4.3% (1). In 2021, 26 adrenalectomies in adults were performed in our institution. 12/26 had malignant histology. 9/26 lesions were > 6 cm. 7/9 lesions > 6 cm were malignant (2 a...

In women, establishment of pregnancy is dependent upon ‘fine-tuning’ of the endometrial microenvironment which is mediated by differentiation (decidualisation) of human endometrial stromal fibroblasts (hESF). Using a robust in vitro model of decidualisation we have demonstrated an important role for local steroid metabolism in regulating hESF, something previously considered a solely endocrine-mediated process. We have conducted detailed time-course profilin...

Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is a disease entity that through hypercortisolism affects all body’s tissues leading to increased morbidity, decreased quality of life and mortality. Muscles are among the tissues primarily affected. However, data on the impact of endogenous hypercortisolism on functional muscle capacity and daily physical activity levels are scarce. We studied 23 subjects with endogenous CS (mean age: 40.73±2.17 years) and 22 healthy aged and sex matched...

Background: Cushing’s disease (CD) may be associated with equivocal results on biochemical investigations.Aim: To evaluate the usefulness of dexamethazone suppression tests in the diagnostic work-up of CD.Patients and methods: Seventy patients with CD [median age 38 yrs(16–76), 53 females] presenting between 1976–2005 were studied. 24-hr urinary free cortisol (UFC), overnight (oDST) (1 mg at 23:00 h), low dose (LDDST...

The pseudo-Cushing’s syndrome that accompanies both acute alcohol ingestion and alcohol withdrawal is an important differential diagnosis of hypercortisolism that is poorly understood. Two isozymes of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD) interconvert hormonally active cortisol (F) and inactive cortisone (E). Previously we have shown higher urinary F:E metabolite ratios (a reflection of total body 11βHSD activity) in patients with alcoholic liver disea...

Objective: Various effects of glucocorticoids occur in brown adipose tissue depending on their duration of action. As a result of exposure to glucocorticoids, thermogenesis and oxygen use in brown fat tissue are reduced in animal studies. In this study, we aimed to compare the levels of UCP1 (uncoupling protein 1), Irisin, BMP 7 (bone morpogenic protein), PRDM16, which are brown addipose tissue markers, between patients with Cushing’s disease and healthy controls<p c...

In the 27 families with FNAH the onset of hyperthyroidism varies from 18 months to 60 years. Also the manifestation of goiters is variable in these families.A 74 year old women first presented at the age of 69 years in 9/2006 with tachyarrythmia and hypertension. After the initial treatment of her hypertension and oral anticoagulation for her intermittant atrialfibrilation 3/2007 a thyroid workup revealed a suppressed TSH of 0.029 (normal< 0.4 mU/l) ...