Endocrine Abstracts

The stress system coordinates the adaptive responses of the organism to stressors of any kind. The main components of the stress system are the CRH and Locus Ceruleus-Norepinephrine (LC/NE)-Autonomic systems and their peripheral effectors, the pituitary-adrenal axis, and the limbs of the autonomic system. Activation of the stress system leads to behavioral and peripheral changes that improve the ability of the organism to adjust homeostasis and increase its chances for surviva...

The nature of the hypothalamic factors which control GH secretion in animals and man have emerged since the description of somatostatin (SS) in the early 1970s. Confusion originally arose when the ubiquitous distribution and apparent non-specificity of the actions of SS were established. Understanding of the paracrine nature of SS's action and the dependence of the specificity of its effects upon the locus of secretion and its short half-life in the circulation provided for an...

It is often said that the transition from paediatric to adult care should be seamless. At the same time, the first visit to an adult clinic is a time to stop, take stock and reorganise. Clinicians must be aware of the importance of this first visit in overcoming the disillusionment that often is felt by an individual as they leave the cosy world of a paediatric service and move into the busy, fragmented world of adult care. However thoroughly a child coming up for transfer is ...

Introduction: Patients with acromegaly are frequently left with long-term adverse sequelae. When compared with individuals with other pituitary adenomas, patients with acromegaly demonstrate greater impairment in their quality of life (QoL).Methods: The disease-specific questionnaire, AcroQoL, and the generic psychological general well-being schedule (PGWBS) were used to evaluate QoL in an acromegaly patient cohort. Longitudinal data were also collected ...

A 69-year-old woman developed hypertension, polyuria and hyperglycemia over the course of several months. The initial biochemical investigation revealed ACTH-dependent hypercortisolism (UFC 409.7 μg/24 h, NR 10–80; ACTH 43.3 pg/ml, NR 8–50; OST 28 μg/dl) and moderately elevated urinary catecholamines (E 80.5 μg/24 h, NR 2.5–33.6; norE 235.8 μg/24 h, NR 18.1–128.2). Further investigations disclosed absent ACTH and cortisol responses to CR...

Adrenal rests, nodules of the adrenal, in patients with chronic elevation of ACTH levels have been previously described.The aim was to describe the case of a patient with an adrenal tumor and late onset 21-hydroxylase deficiency.A female patient, aged 76 years, presented with an incidentally discovered mass of the left adrenal measuring 1.2 cm. The patient was short with a height of 152 cm. Morning serum ACTH levels were 31 pg/ml, ...

Autoimmune hypothyroidism due to thyroid stimulation blocking antibodies (TSB-Ab) is uncommon. When occurring in pregnancy, this condition may be responsible for feto-neonatal complications as a result of both maternal hypothyroidism and trans-placental TSB-Ab transfer to the fetus.Clinical case: September 2010: a 27 year-old woman was diagnosed with autoimmune severe hypothyroidism (TSH 325 mIU/l (n.v 0.4–4.0), FT4 1.54 pmol/l (n.v. 11.5...

Introduction: Adrenal carcinomas are rare tumor. It has an estimated incidence of ~0.5–2 new cases per million people per year. Just 25% of adults with hormone-secreting adrenal carcinomas present overproduction of both glucocorticoids and androgens. Women develop adrenal carcinomas more often than men.Objectives: We report a case of 47-year-old female presented with weight gain, generalized weakness and hypertension for the last 6 months. Phy...

Adiponectin, a recently discovered protein which is secreted by the adipose tissue, exerts anti-inflammatory and anti atherogenic properties, but also promotes glucose uptake by skeletal muscle and fatty acids oxidation. Patients with hypertension and obesity have reduced plasma levels of adiponectin so that they lack its beneficial metabolic effects. However no data are available in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA). In order to investigate the role of the adiponectin ...

Introduction: The etiology of the increased mortality seen in Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is not completely known. In this context, it has been suggested that central adrenal insufficiency (CAI) due to hypothalamic dysfunction may be responsible for unexplained deaths. However, data on hypothalamic-pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis in PWS are still conflicting. Because adrenal insufficiency is a life-threatening disease, its diagnosis should be precise, urgent and reliabl...