Endocrine Abstracts

We conducted a prospective study of 5784 subjects aged 65 or over, screened and identified in primary care. The cohort comprised 2934 women, 2850 men, mean age 73.5 years (range 63.5-98.6). All had TSH measured in a sensitive assay (normal range 0.4-5.5 mU/l), as well as free T4 (normal range 9-20 pmol/l), and resting 12-lead ECG. Atrial fibrillation (AF) was present in 4.81% of the cohort. The prevalence of AF showed significant variation with serum TSH concentrations, being ...

Hypoparathyroidism is a rare endocrine deficiency due to inadequate amounts of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and is characterised by hypocalcaemia and hyperphosphataemia. Current management regimens with large amounts of oral calcium and active vitamin D do not adequately control mineral homeostasis and can lead to complications in many patients. The phase III REPLACE and RELAY clinical trials established the efficacy and safety of once-daily s.c. injection of r...

Thyroid dysfunction is common, particularly in the elderly, and has an important impact on morbidity and mortality, especially in this age group.Aim: We have investigated associations between thyroid function, presence of atrial fibrillation and cognitive function in a large general practice-based study conducted from December 2002-November 2004. Subjects with a previous history of thyroid disease or currently taking thyroxine or anti-thyroid drugs were ...

Introduction: The true prevalence of clinically relevant pituitary adenomas has been reevaluated at 1/1064 of the population (1). Among them, prolactinomas represent the majority with a prevalence of 1/2000. They occur usually in females, aged 20–50 Y.O., and 80% are microadenomas. Nearly 5% of prolactinomas appear in a familial or genetic setting (MEN-1 or FIPA) (2). Cabergoline is proposed as the first line therapy and is usually efficient to normalize prolactin (PRL) l...

Background: Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is an incretin hormone released from enteroendocrine L-cells in the gut. GLP-1 analogues and dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 inhibitors are currently used to treat type-2 diabetes. A greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying the release of GLP-1 may facilitate the development of therapeutics to stimulate the release of endogenous GLP-1. Bile acids have been shown to induce GLP-1 release via the G protein-coupled bile acid receptor 1 ...

Introduction: Assessment of the RAAS has been recently granted a much greater role in the evaluation of patients with arterial hypertension (AH). There is no single test efficient in selection of patients for second-step etiological investigation.Methods: 198 consecutive patients- 119 women (60%) and 79 men (40%)- hospitalized in years 2009-2011 at the Clinical Department of Endocrinology UMB as to diagnose PA. In each patient PRA and PAC (basic and afte...

Obesity is a growing epidemic and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Maintaining a healthy weight is of even greater importance for diabetics, due to the increased risk of micro-vascular and macro-vascular complications.There is suggestion that type 1 diabetic children are more likely to be obese than their peers (e.g. ‘Type 1 diabetes children often overweight’, www.diabetes.co.uk/news). In o...

A 45-year-old male to female transsexual presented with poor female fat distribution. She had been treated with oestrogen for 13 years, initially as ethinyl oestradiol to a maximum dose of 150 ug/day, presently taking 100 mcg with GNRH analogue. On this regimen she had B cup breast development but underwent breast augmentation surgery and still suffered from low self-esteem. She was dissatisfied with her body image because she perceived a male body fat distribution. Her initia...

Introduction: Septo optic dysplasia is a triad of conditions, which include MPHD, IGHD and ONH. We have analysed data in our regional cohort primarily focusing on MRI brain scans.Patients and methods: MRI scans of the brain including T1/T2 weighted high resolution images in children with a diagnosis of septo optic dysplasia (SOD (N=38)), multiple pituitary hormone deficiency (MPHD (N=19)) and isolated GH deficiency (IGHD (n=14)) (tot...

Background: A functioning Hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is essential for life. Prolonged high circulating levels of glucocorticoids inhibit pituitary Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene expression. Repression continues even in the absence of continued glucocorticoid exposure. To date there are no molecular explanations for this observation.Hypothesis: Long-term exposure to glucocorticoids causes de-novo DNA methylation of the pituit...