Endocrine Abstracts

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha is one of three PPARs (alpha, beta (delta) and gamma), which are distinguished by distinct lipid and eicosanoid ligands. All three PPARs are present in pancreatic islets. PPARalpha expression and/or activity is important in the regulation of tissue triacylglycerol (TAG) content and fatty acid oxidation (FAO). PPARalpha binds the hypolipidaemic fibrates and promotes FA-mediated up-regulation of FAO. Surplus FA normally up-...

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) regulates secretion of the reproductive hormones luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in mammals. Homologs of GnRH have been identified in protostomian and deuterostomian invertebrates, and functional studies suggest an ancient role in regulation of reproductive physiology. The aim of this study was to characterise for the first time a GnRH-type signalling system in an echinoderm, using the starfish Asterias ...

Ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) syndrome occurs in about 5–10% of all patients with ACTH-dependent hypercortisolism. We present the case of a 35 year old gentleman who presented with a six month history of progressive 16 kg weight gain and breathlessness. Pulmonary imaging revealed bilateral infiltrates suspicious for Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). Physical examination was concerning for Cushing’s syndrome, with facial plethora, easy bruisability and broa...

Introduction: Ectopic lipids are fuel stores in non-adipose tissues (i.e. skeletal muscle (IMCL), liver (IHCL), and heart (ICCL)). It is recognized that IMCL can be depleted by physical activity and repleted by dietary fat intake indicating metabolic flexibility. In contrast, preliminary data suggested that aerobic exercise increases IHCL. Data on the acute effect of aerobic exercise on ICCL is scarce.Increased IMCL and IHCL have consistently been relate...

Introduction: Expression of murine CSP-1/Dcpp secretory proteins was first identified in sublingual salivary glands and subsequently in secretory epithelia of several other tissues, including the mouse female reproductive tract where expression is regulated by oestrogen. Preliminary studies indicated that HRPE773, the human CSP-1/Dcpp orthologue, displayed a similar pattern of expression to its murine counterparts. We therefore hypothesized that HRPE773 might be expressed in h...

Aims/hypothesis: Resistin could be implicated in the mechanism of insulin resistance and recent evidence suggests this occurs, in part, via a brain-dependent pathway. Given the emerging role of hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in the modulation of appetite and glucose levels, we hypothesized that its activity would be modulated by resistin. To verify such a pathway, we employed the N-1 hypothalamic neuronal cell line, which expresses a variety of neuropeptides ...

Neurohypophyseal diabetes insipidus (DI) is said to be caused by familial forms in about 5% of cases1. Hereditary transmission is autosomal dominant in most families and is caused by a mutation in the arginine vasopressin (AVP) gene on chromosome 20p13, which encodes for a large precursor hormone.A 19-years old otherwise healthy patient seeked endocrine care for an inadequately treated DI. He reported about an undoubtful disease history with a...

ObjectivesThere is a paucity of real-world studies analyzing comorbidities, lab testing and treatment patterns of patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism (cHP). This study describes a large cohort of cHP patients identified using a diagnosis-based approach from a US claims database.MethodsThis retrospective study was conducted using a large (130 million individuals) claims database (HealthVerity Closed Payer...

ObjectivesThere is a paucity of real-world studies on the clinical burden and practice patterns associated with chronic hypoparathyroidism (cHP). This study assesses the comorbidities, treatment and lab testing patterns in cHP patients identified using surgery-based criteria.MethodsThis was a retrospective study conducted using a large (130 million individuals) US claims database (HealthVerity Closed Payer Cl...

The increasing use of somatostatin (SRIF) analogues prompted extensive investigations on SRIF receptor (SSR) in human tumours. Human prostate cancer (PCa) may differentially express SSRs from the normal tissue. Moreover, SSR and dopamine (D) receptors (DR) may interact to form homo- and heterodimers with enhanced functional activity. In the present study, using the human androgen-dependent PCa cell line LNCaP, we investigated: 1) SSR and DR subtype expression in different cult...