Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Pituitary hormones play a vital role in the development of various organs since birth. Testosterone is essential not only for the development of primary and secondary sexual characteristics but also influences erythropoiesis. We describe a clinically challenging case of hypopituitarism presented as normochromic normocytic anaemia at the age of 74 years.Case: A 74 years gentleman with a background of previous Myocardial Infarction was referr...

The role of adipokines and inflammatory cytokines of adipose tissue for development of the growth hormone deficiency (GHD)-related metabolic derangements has not yet been completely understood. Therefore, we screened the protein level of 120 adipokines in subcutaneous adipose tissue (ScAT) of patients with GHD in adulthood.Subjects and methods: Sixteen GHD (10M/6F) with BMI 27±1.0 kg/m2, age 30±2 yrs and sixteen controls matched for ...

A 49-year old woman presented with four months history of drowsiness and weakness. She had twelve years history of intermittent menorrhagia, and was treated with iron and folic acid tablets, with partial relief. Clinically she was dehydrated, drowsy, pale and had pedal edema. Pelvic examination revealed a uterine mass 16 centimeter in diameter. Investigations- hemoglobin 9.0 gm/dl, peripheral smear microcytic, hypochromic anemia,serum albumin- 2.8 g/dl (3.6–4.7 g/dl), ser...

Fleet Phospho-soda is frequently used to prepare bowel for gastrointestinal investigations or surgery. We report an 85 year old male who had severe life threatening hypocalcemia after using fleet. He was admitted for bowel preparation for colonoscopy due to altered bowel habits, weight loss and anaemia. Clinical examination was unremarkable. His investigations showed Hb-12.0 gm/dl, normal renal function (Serum creatinine -105 μmol/l), normal liver function but for a raise...

Obesity and adipokines are associated with a state of chronic low grade inflammation (Trayhurn & Wood 2004).In view of our findings that the adipokines resistin and fiaf (fasting-induced adipose factor) are also expressed in mouse brain and pituitary gland (Wiesner et al 2004), we tested the hypothesis that these factors would be induced in brain tissue following cerebral hypoxia/ischemia (H/I). Neonatal H/I (postnatal day 8; unilateral common c...

The effect of Oestrogen on brain aging. Declan GM Murphy.The biological basis of human brain aging is poorly understood and there are few proven treatments for age-related brain disease. Recently, however, it has been suggested that HRT may have a 'neuroprotective' effect. Some studies report no beneficial effect of HRT on cognitive function in healthy older women though most show a significant benefit to memory and/or a general cognitive enhancement. There is perhaps grea...

SEVERE HYPERCALCEMIA CAUSED BY A VISIBLE PARATHYROID ADENOMA IN AN ADOLESCENT FEMALEU.Das1, H Iassac1, H Kanchi1, DA Price1, GM Humphrey2 & C M Hall1Departments of 1Endocrinology and 2Surgery, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester, Hospital Road, Manchester M27 4HA.A 16-year-old female collapsed following a 24-hour history of severe abdominal pain and vomiting. She was shocked, hypertensive (16...

Various criteria have been proposed to diagnose and treat gestational diabetes due to uncertainties about the influence of mild degrees of maternal glucose intolerance on pregnancy outcomes. We used receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis to correlate macrosomia (more than or equal to 4000g) with varying thresholds for the 2 hour 75 gm oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) results in pregnant women screened at our hospital from 1998-2001.Wom...

Background: Leptin is a multi-functional hormone of which low levels are associated with immuno-deficiency. We and others have shown that leptin promotes secretion of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha and IL-6) by monocytes (1) and activated lymphocytes (2). The leptin receptor (Ob-R) is expressed on neutrophils and leptin enhances oxidative species production by stimulated neutrophils.Aim: To access whether CD11b expression on human neutrophils is a di...

Insulin resistance (IR) with compensatory hyper-insulinemia are key factors involved in the pathogenesis of glucose metabolism disorders (including impaired fasting glucose and glucose tolerance and frank diabetes mellitus) as well as increased thyroid gland volume and nodule prev-alence in patients with metabolic syndrome. On the other hand, thyroid hormone contributes to the regulation of carbohydrates metabolism and pancreatic function. This cross-sectional study investigat...