Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Muslims worship by fasting from pre-dawn (suhoor) until sunset (iftar) for 30 days in the religious month of Ramadan. In addition to prolonged hunger, patients fasting with a diagnosis of hypothyroidism take their doses of levothyroxine outside of daytime fasting hours. This study compares thyroid functions of fasting hypothyroidism patients with the values before Ramadan.Methods: One hundred patients aged 18–65 years were included in the...

Introduction: Autotaxin (ATX)[Ectonucleotide Pyrophosphatase /Phosphodiesterase family member 2 (ENPP2)] is a lysophospholipase D stimulating cell migration, metastasis and angiogenesis. ATX hydrolizes lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) and produces bioactive lysophosphatidic acid(LPA). There are some clues about ATX–LPA pathway modulation may unlock the gate of metabolic derangement including diabetes formation or may impact formation of cardiovascular diseases via LPA’s...

Introduction: Classic congenital adrenal hyperplasias (CAH) are mostly diagnosed in the first months/years of life and require a lifetime follow-up.Case report: A 33-year-old Caucasian man was admitted twice in the previous year to the emergency department; the first episode due to an acute tonsillitis, the second episode due to a lower respiratory tract infection, both associated with hyponatremia (125 mmol/l). Common causes of hyponatremia were exclude...

Introduction: Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) typically presents in the neonate, however a minority of cases (~ 35%) present later in infancy and childhood. We report the challenging case of an older infant presenting with hypoglycaemia, diagnosed with CHI and managed entirely within a secondary care setting.Case report: A 9-month-old macrosomic (99th centile) infant presented to the Children’s Emergency Department with hypoglycaemia and a 1 week h...

Introduction: Mediastinal paragangliomas are rare. These tumours can be associated with increased morbidity and mortality when invasive growth to the heart, great vessels, esophagus and trachea occurs. Surgical resection, if feasible, is the treatment of choice.Case report: A 50-year-old man presented with severe and refractory left gluteal pain radiating to the posterior thigh for two months. The patient had no relevant medical history and no other symp...

Papillary carcinoma is the most common histological type of thyroid cancer. The optimal treatment remains controversial, particularly with regard to the papillary microcarcinoma (≤ 10 mm).The aim of this study is the characterization of patients with this condition undergoing surgery in our hospital over a period of 30 years, evaluating treatment outcomes.Between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 2010, a total of 564 patients ...

In the context of the cross-talk between the neuroendocrine and immune systems, it is well known that GH exerts physiological effects in central as well as peripheral compartments of the immune system. GH modulates a variety of thymic functions. For example, GH upregulates proliferation of thymocytes and thymic epithelial cells. Accordingly, GH-transgenic mice, as well as animals and humans treated with exogenous GH, exhibit an enhanced cellularity in the organ. GH also stimul...

Neuroendocrine tumours of the GI tract originate from enterochromaffin cells. Somatostatin analogues are the mainstay drugs for therapy in these cancers as they ameliorate symptoms and lower hormone secretion, but only in 30–70% of patients. Such tumours are also associated with angiogenesis which has been used as a prognostic indicator; adenosine, the major regulator of angiogenesis, is released by enhanced degradation of ATP, during cellular stress, damage and hypoxia.<...

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is an adrenal sex steroid whose levels decline during normal aging. Epidemiological studies demonstrate inverse correlation between circulating DHEA-sulphate and body fat mass while DHEA administration in elderly subjects reduces visceral and subcutaneous fat accumulation. Although previous studies have shown that some effects may be mediated via DHEA-induced inhibition of white pre-adipocyte proliferation, mechanisms remain unknown. Furthermore, ...

A 14 year old girl, with a family history of MEN1, presented with secondary amenorrhoea and weight gain. Biochemical investigation revealed raised 24-hour urinary free cortisol excretions (1455, 1190, 614 nmol/24 hours; normal <290) and failure of cortisol suppression following 48 hours of low dose (0.5 mg qds) dexamethasone (199 nmol/l to 202 nmol/l). High dose dexamethasone administration (2 mg qds) for 48 hours resulted in further suppression of serum cortisol to 49 nmo...