Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Fat distribution in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is thought to favour accumulation of abdominal visceral fat, but there has been no systematic comparison of fat distribution in PCOS and normal controls using MRI scanning.Aim: Our aim was to compare distributions of visceral, abdominal subcutaneous and gluteo-femoral subcutaneous adipose tissue in PCOS cases versus control women using a cross-sectional design.<p class="abste...

Background: A previous study suggested an increased absolute and intraindividual variability of insulin resistance (IR) in overweight women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) which may contribute to the increase in cardiovascular risk. There had been no previous data on the change in variability of IR in PCOS with treatment.Methods: PCOS women were recruited using the Rotterdam criteria [mean age (±S.E.M.) 26.4(±1.5)yrs and ...

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is an autosomal recessive condition which leads to glucocorticoid deficiency. During childhood, aims of treatment are to prevent adrenal crisis and to achieve optimal adult height and normal puberty. In adults, aims of treatment are to prevent adrenal crisis, ensure normal fertility and avoid long-term consequences of glucocorticoid use. Current regimens with glucocorticoids cannot optimally replicate the normal physiological cortisol level...

Diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (DIPNECH) is a rare pulmonary pathology which encompasses a spectrum of findings ranging from simple neuroendocrine cell proliferation to discrete nodules, and is strongly associated with carcinoid tumours. Patients, typically female, are often asymptomatic, but may present with overt pulmonary symptoms, such a dyspnoea, cough or pleuritic chest pain; however, even in their absence, a degree of obstructive or mixed o...

Up-to-date, there have been 7 case reports of hypomagnesaemia associated with hypocalcaemia and hypokalaemia in patients on long-term treatment with proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs). The suggestion is that these reports present a tip of an iceberg in clinical practice. Inspired by a case of severe symptomatic electrolyte loss, which was corrected by discontinuation of PPIs, we performed an audit of a potential relationship between hypomagnesaemia and PPIs in our hospital.<p c...

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signalling pathways are now accepted to be widely important in the mechanisms by which a variety of cell surface receptors can regulate critical cellular functions, such as cell growth, survival and movement. Class I PI3Ks generate the messenger lipids PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and PtdIns(3,4)P2 in the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane. These two lipids then co-ordinate the regulation of multiple protein targets by binding, with ...

A 49 year old lady was referred to the endocrine clinic for investigation of intermittent hyponatremia. She had two admissions in the year with lower abdominal, back pain and dark urine and treated for urinary infections.Serum sodium was 112,114 millimoles per litre, which responded to fluid restriction.She had a past history of syncopal episodes, hypertension treated with atenolol, amlodipine. She was a nonsmoker, alcohol intake was 14 units per week.</...

Pancreatitis has multiple aetiologies of which commonest are gall stones and alcohol. Hypertriglyceridaemia is a less common (1-14 %) cause of pancreatitis. We present three case histories of acute pancreatitis due to severe triglyceridaemia and its management challenge in people with diabetes.Case history: 1. A 33-year-old man with BMI of 41 kg/m2 with Hodgkin lymphoma, thyrotoxicosis and diabetes, but no history of alcohol use was diagnosed ...

Background: Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a heterogeneous genetically determined condition that is characterised by unregulated secretion of insulin from pancreatic β-cells. The most common and severe cases are caused by mutations in the ABCC8 gene encoding the SUR1 subunit of the KATP channel subunit. Autosomal recessive mutations in HADH gene are a rare cause of CHI. The advances in CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology has enabled the i...

Background: Overnight dexamethasone suppression tests (ONDST) are conducted to investigate patients with symptoms suggestive of cortisol hypersecretion or if an adrenal incidentaloma is identified. Cortisol levels of 50 nmol/l and above following ONDST may be related to autonomous cortisol secretion (ACS) and require further investigation. Determining likely presence of ACS is essential given reported associations with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), obesity, cardiovascular d...