Endocrine Abstracts

In mammals, the preovulatory LH surge is thought to be triggered by enhanced release of GnRH into the hypothalamic–pituitary portal blood vessels. Recently, we discovered that the medial basal hypothalamus (MBH) of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) contains two distinct populations of GnRH-producing neurones. One of these populations expresses the traditional mammalian form of GnRH (i.e. GnRH-I) while the other expresses a more conserved vertebrate form of GnRH (i.e...

We present a case of a 25-year-old male with no significant past medical history presenting with extensive bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy, thirst and polyuria. He denied night sweats, weight loss or a change in appetite. There was no reported previous contact with tuberculosis and he had not travelled to high risk areas. A water deprivation test was consistent with a diagnosis of diabetes insipidus.Computerised Tomography scanning of the chest demons...

Introduction: Hypertension remains a significant co-morbidity in the population with diabetes, with a prevalence of 20–60%. In type 2 diabetes, hypertension is often present as part of the metabolic syndrome of insulin resistance. In type 1 diabetes, hypertension may reflect the onset of diabetic nephropathy.Aims: To investigate the prevalence of, and to stratify, hypertension in our diabetes clinic population. To investigate prevalence of risk fact...

Studies on the distribution of Somatostatin Receptor (sst)-subtypes on endocrine tumors, the development of sst-subtype specific analogues, the elucidation of phenomena like receptor desensitization and ligand-receptor internalization, and the potential consequences (and reversal) of the epigenetic silencing of sst offer new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities in endocrine diseases:1. apart from sst2 activation, Somatostatin analogues target...

We describe two similar but distinct cases of newly presenting coexistent adrenocortical insufficiency and type 1 diabetes.Case 1; an 18 yr old woman presented with a two week history of polydipsia, polyuria and accelerated weight loss. Random glucose 20.2 mmol/L but no evidence of ketoacidosis. She was thin, pigmented, hypotensive and dehydrated and confirmed one years weight loss, lethargy, abdominal pain and occasional vomiting. Short synacthen test c...

A 29 year old female presented with a two year history of recurrent numbness and tingling in her hands. Trousseau’s sign was positive. Investigations confirmed hypocalcaemia with serum calcium 1.64 nmol/L (2.10–2.60), phosphate 1.23 nmol/L (0.80–1.55), alkaline phosphatase 82 U/L (35–120). Parathyroid hormone was inappropriately normal at 36 pg/ml (10–65), Vitamin D 78 nmol/L (50–75). Her mother reported a history of hypocalcaemia when she was two...

The mouse steroid 21-hydroxylase-A gene promoter (21-OH) directs adrenal cortex-specific expression of the β-galactosidase reporter in 21-OHase/LacZ transgenic mice. Multiple independent 21-OHase/LacZ transgenic lines show a similar mosaic pattern of reporter expression probably reflecting stochastic transgene silencing. In the adult, the mosaic reporter expression occurs as radial stripes spanning the adrenal cortex. A similar radial striped pattern occurs ...

Background: Cortisol is an essential steroid hormone released from the adrenal gland. Plasma cortisol levels follow a circadian rhythm under the control of the Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal axis, reaching peak levels in the morning. Cortisol has long been known to exert immunosuppressive effects and accordingly, glucocorticoids are central in treating inflammatory disease. Cortisol’s propensity to downregulate certain pro-inflammatory cytokines and upregulate o...

Amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques represent one of the classic hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology in the brain. In rhesus macaques, these plaques start becoming prominent when the animals are 20+ years old, although the underlying cause(s) are unclear. In the present study, our goal was to test the hypothesis that exposure to a Western-style, high-fat, high-sugar diet (WSD) and/or loss of ovarian steroids would advance the development of this histological marker...

A 60 year old nurse presented to the emergency department with palpitations, itchy skin, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, insomnia, weight loss and feeling hot /clammy. She felt her symptoms were in keeping with the menopause although she had been amenorrhoeic for six years. Thyroid function tests revealed fT4 73 pmol/land TSH <0.01 mIU/lhaving been normal six months previously. She was started on carbimazole 40 mg/day and was seen urgently in clinic. She reported to feelin...