Endocrine Abstracts

IntroductionMenopausal transition is associated with an increase in the cardiovascular risk, possibly related with the sharp decrease of estrogen levels. Menopausal symptoms and more specifically hot flushes have been previously linked with an increase in cardiovascular risk. On the other hand, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is considered as another presentation of the metabolic syndrome, conferring additional cardiovascular risk to the affected indiv...

Purpose: Vasomotor symptoms (VMS) adversely affect postmenopausal quality of life. However, their impact on bone health has not been elucidated. This study aimed to systematically review and meta-analyze the evidence regarding the association of VMS with fracture risk and bone mineral density (BMD) in peri- and postmenopausal women.Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane databases until 31 August 2023. Fracture, low BMD ...

Introduction: HIV infection has been associated with bone loss and increased frequency of bone fractures. The main pathogenetic mechanisms involve the direct effect of the virus and the HIV-induced inflammatory cytokines on bone metabolism, the effect of antiretroviral therapy (cART) per se and the frequently coexisting nutritional disorders and hypogonadism, further accelerating bone loss. Bisphosphonates remain the first-line treatment for these patients. Limited da...

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) poses multiple risks to both the mother and foetus. This includes foetal macrosomia and the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) due to their metabolic profile are at greater risk of developing GDM and its long-term sequelae. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associations of GDM at St George’s Hospital, with emphasis on women diagnosed with PCOS. The K2 maternal med...

Introduction: Insulin resistance is a main characteristic of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and contributes to the increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It is thought that in PCOS there is an alteration in the insulin signaling pathway. An important kinase in this pathway is the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K), the activity of which has been found to be decreased in PCOS. Based on this observation we investigated whether a single nucleotide polym...

Introduction: Increased oxidative stress is considered to be implicated in the pathophysiology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). While the regulation of oxidative stress is multifactorial, many studies have been focused on the antioxidant role of paraoxonase (PON). The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association of the Q192R and the L55M polymorphisms of PON1 and the Ser311Cys polymorphism of PON2 with PCOS.Subjects and...

Background: Growing evidence suggests that hypothalamic lipid sensing plays a key role in controlling food intake, fat deposition and energy balance and that its dysregulation could lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Recent investigations reported that sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is involved in the hypothalamic control of energy homeostasis. Intra-cerebroventricular administration of S1P decreased food intake and increased energy expenditure in rodents.<p class="...

A 31-year-old man without previous medical history presented to his local hospital with one week history of generalised severe headache. Brain CT was reported as negative for acute intracranial pathology. Five weeks later, he re-presented with worsening headache and blurring of vision. Brain CT revealed a large area of hypodensity centred on the left thalamus/basal ganglia and subsequent MRI with contrast showed a medium size pituitary cyst with suprasellar extension and two c...

Background: Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, affecting both sexes. Awareness and prevention practices aiming to control cardiovascular risk in women remain inadequate. On the other hand, circulating amyloid β 1-40 (Aβ1-40) is a proatherogenic peptide, closely linked with the process of aging. We aimed to evaluate the possible association between the progression of atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women and the role of Aβ1-40 ...

Vitamin D (vit-D) deficiency is common in patients with gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP-NET) and has been linked to reduced survival in these patients. Vit-D status was assessed in 183 patients with GEP-NET, at the time of their first presentation in the ARDEN-NET-Centre; and following simple advice at routine 6-monthly follow-up appointments to increase vit-D intake using over-the-counter vit-D preparations (Colecalciferol (Vit-D3), 1000–2000 units/d...