Endocrine Abstracts

It often surprises medical clinicians to learn that pet dogs can suffer from diabetes mellitus which is diagnosed and treated by veterinary surgeons in much the same way as in human patients. Unfortunately, research into the pathogenesis of canine diabetes has failed to keep pace with its human counterpart, particularly when it comes to understanding the genetic and immunological basis of the disease.Diabetes is one of the most common endocrine disorders...

The hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis plays a key role in the metabolic response to stress, so it is to be anticipated that cortisol signalling might in turn be regulated by nutritional status. This regulation might operate either centrally, controlling ACTH and hence plasma cortisol, or peripherally, controlling metabolism of cortisol in target tissues.Plasma cortisol levels are elevated during starvation in animals and a recent meta-analysis co...

Introduction: The measurement of male androgens in most NHS laboratories is often limited to testosterone alone. To more accurately determine the androgen status in men the measurement of other androgens such as DHT and DHEA would be beneficial however these are difficult to measure without derivatisation. We report a combined LC–MS/MS assay for the measurement of testosterone, androstenendione, DHT and DHEA on a small sample volume.Methods: Zinc su...

Introduction: Most clinical laboratories use immunoassays to measure estradiol despite limitations such as poor specificity, poor sensitivity and wide variability between different manufacturers’ assays. LC–MS/MS assays overcome the issues of sensitivity and specificity however the methods reported in the literature often involve complex sample preparation and lengthy run times. We describe a simple, rapid assay for the simultaneous measurement of serum estradiol and...

Background: Plasma metanephrine analysis is widely accepted as the test of choice for phaeochromocytomas and sympathetic extra-adrenal paragangliomas. It is important to analyse 3-methoxytyramine along with metanephrine and normetanephrine as 3-MT measurement has been shown to be useful in tumour localisation and also in determining whether metastasis has taken place. 3-MT analysis is challenging as the concentrations of 3MT of interest are very low, and the sensitivity of man...

Introduction: Testosterone measurement by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is well accepted as the preferred technique for the analysis of serum testosterone in both males and particularly females. However variation is seen between LC-MS/MS assays and is most likely to be due to method differences between laboratories. One area of inconsistency amongst routine LC-MS/MS assays is the choice of internal standard. We investigated the effects of three inte...

Introduction: Prednisolone is well known to interfere in routine immunoassays for cortisol with uncertainty surrounding the degree of this interference. Methods using tandem mass spectrometry technologies offer more specificity, however there have been some reports of prednisolone interference in mass spectrometry assays. We aimed to characterise the extent of prednisolone interference in both an automated immunoassay and a tandem mass spectrometry method (TMS).<p class="a...

Aim: The investigation of female androgen status in our laboratory is measured as a profile. Androstenedione, testosterone and DHEAS are analysed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. SHBG is analysed by immunoassay, and all results are reported simultaneously. The main aim was to investigate the management of patients who have a raised DHEAS level.Method: Ethical approval was granted for this study. Females with DHEAS levels >6.9 n...

Similarities between the metabolic syndrome and Cushing’s syndrome, and reversibility of the features of Cushing’s syndrome, suggest that cortisol may contribute to pathophysiology in both conditions and that reducing cortisol action may provide a novel therapeutic approach in metabolic syndrome. There is substantial evidence that circulating cortisol concentrations are higher in people with hypertension and glucose intolerance. The basis for t...

Introduction: SARS-CoV2 infection or vaccination against SARS-CoV2 has been linked to the onset or recurrence of Autoimmune and subacute thyroiditis resulting in thyroid dysfunction.Case: We describe a case of Thyroid eye disease temporally associated with SARS-CoV 2 infection in a 48 year old female with a one-year history of subclinical hypothyroidism without interval thyroid hormone replacement or SARS-CoV2 vaccination. Two months following PCR confir...