Endocrine Abstracts

Case history: A 2 year old Pakistani boy born of consanguineous parents was referred for a dermatological opinion as he had total alopecia. He was born with a full crop of hair, which was shaved at 7 days of age as per religious custom and had not grown back. His motor milestones were delayed such that he started crawling at 14 months and was unable to walk independently. His weight was on the 0.4th centile and his height (72 cm) was far below the 0.4th centile. His anterior f...

Members of the TGF-β superfamily of ligands signal through a combination of Type I and Type II receptors. Type I and Type II receptors have been related to various human diseases including developmental malformation, cancers and endocrine disorders. However, little is known about the function of ALK7, a Type I receptor expressed in prenatal and adult CNS and various endocrine tissues. We have generated a mice lacking ALK7, which are viable and fertile but display metaboli...

Moderately elevated plasma homocysteine levels (>12 μmol/l) are highly prevalent in the general population and are associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Homocysteine is an amino acid produced during catabolism of the essential amino acid methionine. Metabolism of homocysteine requires an adequate supply of folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6.Moderate hyperhomocysteinemia may be caused by a variety of factors: chronic d...

17-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 3 (17βHSD3) converts androstendione to testosterone in the male testis. Testosterone is necessary for the development of the external male genitalia, a failure of which can result in sexual ambiguity.We present a 22-year-old individual presenting with vaginal bleeding on attempted intercourse. At puberty (13–14 years old), being brought up as a girl, she began to virilise alongside minimal breast development...

Objective: A reliable form of androgen substitution therapy in terms of favorable kinetics and tolerance as well as effective restoration of androgenicity is paramount in hypogonadal men. A feasible modality is the intramuscular injection of the long-acting ester testosterone undecanoate (TU).Design: We report data from 22 patients (15 with primary and 7 with secondary hypogonadism) aged 30 to 65 years (mean 43.8±8 years) who received injections of ...

Objective: The present study designed to assess the effect of Mg+Zn, vitamin C+E, and combination of these micronutrients on blood pressure in type 2 diabetic patients.Materials and methods: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trial, 69 type 2 diabetic patients were randomly divided into four groups, each group receiving one of the following daily supplement for 3 months; group M: 200 mg and 30 mg Zn (n=16), group V: 200 mg...

Aims: The aim of our study was to evaluate the incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart failure (HF) in diabetic and nondiabetic patients admitted to a central hospital in the North of Portugal between 1989 and 2004.Materials and methods: Data from the Hospital Coding Centre were retrospectively analysed according to International Classification of Diseases (9th version) criteria. We have studied the distribution by age, sex, procedures, caus...

Male prolactinomas are rare and considered as bad responders to medical treatment compared to female cases. Our aim was to evaluate response of pituitary macrolesions secreting prolactin (PRL) to dopamine agonists. Our population was composed of 34 men (mean age =36.6 years) with a diagnosis of macroprolactinomas: mean tumor size =35.5 mm (12 – 118) and mean PRL =2505 ng/ml (132 – 19996). Bromocriptine was used with a mean dose of 22.94 mg/day (3.75 – 80) and a ...

The usefulness of long-term medical treatment with somatostatin analogs has not been evaluated in insulinomas. 22 patients with hypoglycaemia related to endogenous hyperinsulinism (62±21 years, M±S.D., 27–88 years) were not treated by surgery: aged patients (n=10), patients with malignant unresectable insulinomas (n=6; locally invasive, n=1; multimetastatic, n=5), multiple insulinomas (n=2), diffuse beta cell pat...

Introduction: Papillary thyroid micro-carcinoma (PTMC) is a well-differentiated thyroid cancer ≤10 mm in diameter. The recent higher prevalence of PTMC is due to the frequent detection of micro-carcinomas as an incidental finding in surgical specimens, but especially during routine imaging of the neck with highly sensitive techniques.Aim: To review the clinical course of PTMC so to reach its optimal management by adapting therapy and follow-up sche...