Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of disability and death, and a cause of neuroendocrine dysfunction. Partial or complete pituitary dysfunction is a frequent event occurring in 25–50% of subjects after a TBI as result from damage to either the pituitary or the hypothalamus. This large variability depends on the screening methods and on the difficulty to predict the effects of the trauma on pituitary. Growth hormone deficiency and gonadotropin defic...

Actions of the stress hormone, glucocorticoid (GC), are essential for the modulation of implicated biological processes such as synaptic transmission. In disease paradigms that feature a hormone hyper-secretion phenotype (e.g. neurocognitive disorders), the normalcy of receptor signaling is compromised.The pro-cognate role of Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) inhibition via hormone analogues bearing anti-glucocorticoid properties is well described. A key exam...

The emergence of prostate cancer and the progression of the disease are significantly driven by the androgen receptor (AR) in combination with other transcription factors. The evolution of aggressive disease requires tumours to become resistant to metabolic stress and subsequently therapeutic stress. Given the role of the prostate gland has a secretory organ characterised by high rates of protein synthesis particularly in AR-positive luminal epithelial cells there are inherent...

Introduction: Pheochromocytomas (adrenal and extra- adrenal/Paragangliomas) are rare catecholamine producing tumors and required complex dedicated MDTintervention. We preliminarily reported our service in a tertiary referral centre over 10 years (2008–2018).Method: A retrospectively review of confirmed phaeochromocytoma were carried out by reviewing clinical correspondences and ICE investigation-result system (laboratory, radiology and histology.)</...

An 88-year-old Caucasian man with hypertension, single functioning kidney, vitamin D insufficiency and transurethral resection of the prostate was admitted with worsening confusion. On admission, he had acute on chronic renal impairment (Urea- 17.2 mmol/l (range: 2.5–7.5 mmol/l), Creatinine- 163 μmol/l (range: 60–120 μmol/l), eGFR- 35 (Baseline- 60 ml/min/1.73m2) and a normal serum/corrected calcium (2.51 mmol/l (range- 2.2–2.6mmol/l). He wa...

Phaeochromocytoma during pregnancy is extremely rare with a frequency of 0.002% pregnancies. However, the risks for the pregnant patient with this tumour are extremely high: with maternal and foetal mortality up to 50% if undiagnosed. In contrast, early diagnosis and treatment during pregnancy decrease the maternal and foetal mortality to <5 and 15% respectively.A 37-year-old female underwent abdominal imaging to investigate iron deficiency anaemia. ...

ACTH signalling at the adrenal zona fasciculata induces rapid synthesis of glucocorticoids, accompanied by rapid transcription of genes encoding steroidogenic enzymes, including the labile, rate-limiting protein, StAR protein. ACTH induction of StAR transcription has been demonstrated to be predominantly CREB-dependent, and this mechanism is regulated by both CREB phosphorylation and its binding to the CREB co-activator TORC (transducer of regulated CREB activity, also known a...

Introduction: β-thalassemia (bT) is associated to several endocrine abnormalities mainly due to iron overload. With the increase in bT-patients life expectancy, due to progresses in iron chelation therapy, more patients enter into adulthood than in the past and the prevalence of endocrine diseases is being reconsidered. The aim of the study is to investigate the prevalence of primary hypoparathyroidism (pHPT) in adult bT-patients and to characterize the relative clinical ...

Thyroid cancer is one of the most frequent malignancies of the endocrine system, and its incidence is predicted to become the fourth leading cancer diagnosis by 2030. Among thyroid carcinomas, anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is the most aggressive and lethal tumor, which grows very rapidly, invades adjacent tissues and metastasizes, causing death in 1 year from diagnosis. We recently showed that in thyroid cancer PATZ1 expression is downregulated compared to normal thyroid and...

The term pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) defines a heterogeneous group of rare, related and deeply impairing metabolic diseases due to end-organ resistance to the actions of PTH, associated to molecular defects at the GNAS locus. Different subtypes of PHP have been described based on the existence of additional clinical features, such as resistance to other hormones acting via GPCRs and Albright’s hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO). Recently, the detection in a small subset o...