Endocrine Abstracts

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...

Context: Vitamin D deficiency has been identified as a risk factor for a number of autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.Objective: We hypothesized that low levels of vitamin D are related to the early stages of autoimmune thyroid disease.Design: Two case-control studies were performed. Study A: cases were subjects from the Amsterdam AITD cohort (euthyroid women who had 1st or 2nd degree relatives wit...

Objective: To evaluate prospectively the relationship between Yersinia Enterocolitica (YE) infection and the development of overt autoimmune hypo- or hyperthyroidism (study A) and the de novo occurrence of thyroid antibodies (study B).Subjects and methods: Prospective cohort study of 790 euthyroid women who were 1st or 2nd degree relatives of AITD patients. Follow-up was 5 years, with annual assessments.Study A. Nested case&...

Introduction: GH and its receptor (GHR) are expressed in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the eyes of chick embryos, and in mouse, rat and human eyes. Within the retina, exogenous GH has neuroprotective actions, mediated by caspase-dependent and caspase-independent mechanisms that may also be dependent upon IGF1 signaling. Conversely, the immunoneutralization of endogenous GH promotes apoptosis in the retina and in isolated RCGs. The functional relevance of retinal GH was furt...

Introduction: The IGF1-receptor (IGF1R) gene is located on the distal long arm of chromosome 15 (bands q26.3). Short stature due to mutation or deletion of IGF1R gene is rare. Mutation of this gene is better known compared to deletion as a cause of growth hormone resistance. We report a girl with pre and postnatal growth failure with chromosome 15q deletion and 16q duplication.Case report: Our patient was born at term weighing 2.7 kg (2nd centile). She w...

Androsterone glucuronide (ADG) is a major metabolite of the androgen dihydrotestosterone and has also been shown to arise from the intracrine conversion of other adrenal androgens such as androstenedione and androsterone. ADG has been shown to be raised in some women with clinical signs of hyperandrogenism such as acne and hirsutism, even when levels of androgens, e.g. testosterone or DHEA-S are normal. This indicates that raised ADG levels may be an early indication of hypera...

Thyroid eye disease (TED) is clinically evident in 25–50% of patients with Graves’ disease and 3–5% of cases develop severe eye disease. We present a case of very aggressive TED.A 46-year-old gentleman developed graves thyrotoxicosis and was blocked and replaced with carbimazole and thyroxine. He continued to smoke 20 cigarettes/day despite several advises.He developed marked exophthalmos (L>R), chemosis, with re...

Type 1 pseudohypoaldosteronism (PHA1), defined as resistance to aldosterone, is characterised by salt wasting, hyperkalemia and metabolic acidosis and is associated with high renin and aldosterone levels. The autosomal recessive form is characterised by generalised salt wasting and is due to a defect in the epithelial sodium channel. Whilst there are individual case reports on this condition, there are little published data on long-term outcome including neurodevelopment.<...

Aims: To compare glycaemic control and change in body mass index (BMI) in children and adolescents newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and started on either twice daily insulin (BD) or multiple daily insulin (MDI).Methods: This study looked retrospectively at all children newly diagnosed with T1D at our hospital from January 2006 to June 2007. There were 44 children and the outcome measures used were change in haemoglobin A1c (HbA1...

PTHrP is an important factor for the regulation of calcium homeostasis around delivery. The aim of this study was to longitudinally analyse PTHrP metabolism and influencing factors looking at mothers and their breastfed newborns from 32 weeks of pregnancy until 8 weeks after delivery. Nineteen families (8 Caucasian, 11 Arabic/Asian) participated in the study. We analysed PTHrP, 25 OH vitamin D, parathyroid hormone (PTH), alkaline phosphatase, albumin; serum and urine calcium, ...