Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Different management modalities are used to control hyperglycaemia associated with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Research has indicated an association of single or combined insulin therapy with increased cardiovascular events. Metabolic syndrome (MS), as well as increased levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), and gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) are also associated with increased CVD risk.Aim: To study the relationship between management modality, gl...

Introduction: Interferon treatment for hepatitis C has been associated with Graves’-like thyroiditis, developing in rare instances severe ophthalmopathy. The usual management is interferon withdrawal and high-dose corticosteroids, but it may interfere with the resolution of hepatitis. Hereby we report a case successfully treated with radiotherapy, which in our knowledge has never been previously reported.Case report: A 52-year-old woman was diagnose...

An interest in art and antiques and a chance discovery in Hong Kong in 2000 led rapidly to an obsession with carvings from Northern China’s 5000 year old Hongshan Culture. The most controversial are in a unique silica glass (‘shui jing’), with a very high melting temperature (>1600 °C) and no additives or stabilisers, that could only have originated from a large unique meteorite impact. This paper will present results on the carvings of light microscopy...

Lorenz C Hofbauer, Germany AbstractThe European Journal of Endocrinology Prize is awarded to a candidate who has significantly contributed to the advancement of the knowledge in the field of endocrinology through publication. This year’s recipient is Dr Lorenz Hofbauer. The prize will be presented as part of the ECE 2010 opening ceremony where Dr Hofbauer will deliver his lecture. Dr Hofbau...

Sporadic Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is an uncommon thyroid cancer. The prevalence has been studied in two large European studies(1,2). Serum calcitonin provides a highly sensitive and specific tumour marker for this. We shall present a case which typifies the presentation of MTC and discuss its relevance.A 71-year-old gentleman of Italian descent was admitted in 2001 with left lower limb cellulitis. It was documented that he had an incidental goitre, that had been p...

The glycoprotein hormone common alpha-subunit (alphaGSU) is an early endocrine marker of pituitary development and is expressed concurrently with the orphan nuclear receptor, steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1). Our studies have examined the potential role of SF-1 in alphaGSU gene expression using two gonadotroph-derived cell lines as models of the developing pituitary.We investigated the role of SF-1 and its binding site, the gonadotroph-specific element (GSE...

CDC73 (also known as HRPT2) encodes parafibromin and is known to be the causative gene of hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor (HPT-JT) syndrome. There is no known ubiquitination of parafibromin, and the deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) for parafibromin has not been identified to date. Full-length DUB cDNAs encoding 58 family members of ubiquitin specific proteases (USPs) were subcloned. The DUB cDNA was used to identify parafibromin interacting by yeast two-hybrid screening. W...

C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) has recently been implicated as a key meiotic arrest factor in oocytes, and mechanistic studies suggest that the transcriptional regulation of the CNP gene (Nppc) and of its receptor, GC-B (Npr2) is sensitive to gonadotrophin-dependent cAMP accumulation. We have shown CNP to be a major regulator of gonadotrophs in the pituitary, but have yet to establish how either Nppc or Npr2 are transcriptionally controlled locally. In the current study, the...

Introduction: Interferon-α (IFN-α) exerts different immune effects and is used in current therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. One of the side-effects of IFN-α therapy is interferon-induced thyroiditis (IIT). The role of lymphocyte subpopulations in IIT remains to be defined.Objective: This study was conducted to assess different peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations, mainly regulatory CD4+CD25+...

C-reactive protein (CRP) is closely associated with obesity and cardiovascular disease in both diabetic and nondiabetic subjects. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of commonly prescribed antidiabetic agent metformin on CRP and insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes patients after 12 weeks of therapy. Twenty-three newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients (mean age: 49.74±2.03 years; mean BMI: 31.40±1.27 kg/m2) have been given metformin 2 g...