Endocrine Abstracts

Case history: We report an interesting case of a rare cause of hypopituitarism where our patient presented to the hospital with acute onset headache, vomiting, and feeling generally unwell. Investigations/Results: On routine bloods, he was found to have hyponatremia. On further workup of hyponatremia, he had low morning cortisol which was confirmed as secondary adrenal insufficiency on dynamic function testing. He was also deficient in gonadotrophins alo...

Background and Objective: It is known that androgens decrease and estrogens increase TBG. In female to male transsexuals under testosterone replacement, decrease of TBG has been shown, but also an increased T3/T4 ratio despite stable free T4 and TSH, suggesting increased conversion to T3 by testosterone. We wanted to study the HPT axis in hypogonadal cis-males before and after testosterone replacement.Method: Prospective observational study in adult male...

Background: In the UK, NICE guidelines for familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) recommend a greater than 50% reduction in low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) as the therapeutic target. However, despite the availability of a range of lipid lowering medication, this target is often difficult to achieve and, more importantly, maintain life-long. Understanding factors that affect LDL-C target achievement is key to reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Currently, there...

Introduction: Alternative biofluids such as sweat, which can be obtained non-invasively and present a simpler matrix composition than serum/plasma or urine, may be useful for monitoring biomarkers. The long-term sampling with patches either on the chest or back can be conveniently used under both rest and exercise conditions to provide an integrated response of free biomarkers over the course of a day. The smaller sample volumes generated by sweat collection can be convenientl...

Introduction: Within our single centre, the referral rate from the endocrine hypertension clinic to the sleep clinic is high. We have also observed a particular metabolic profile of those patients including raised normetanephrines which subsequently improve after treatment for sleep apnoea.Illustrative cases: 56 year old man with a BMI of 33 kg/m2 and multiple complications of obesity including NAFLD, gallstones and loss of libido. He was rare...

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is driven by cumulative exposure to high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. Previously, LDL-C burden has been loosely approximated using the cholesterol year score (CYS) based on two LDL-C readings only. We aimed to determine whether a more sophisticated LDL-C burden score based on serial LDL-C measurements, could more accurately predict major atherosclerotic cardiovascular ev...

Background: Hypercalcaemia is common in renal transplant recipients, the majority of whom have PTH-dependent hypercalcaemia due to tertiary hyperparathyroidism. PTH-independent hypercalcaemia is less common and is associated with significant, treatable underlying pathologies. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence and aetiology of PTH-independent hypercalcaemia in post-renal transplant patients.Method: This was a retrospective, single-centre ...

Introduction: The successful implementation of clinical genetic testing relies on accurate variant interpretation, as misclassification can result in significant harm to the patient and wider family. Missense single nucleotide variants (SNVs) pose a particular challenge, with current interpretation methods often unable to differentiate pathogenic variants from rare neutral variants, resulting in high numbers of variants of uncertain significance (VUS), and diagnostic uncertain...

Neuropathic pain (NP) is a microvascular complication affecting between 30-50% of people living with diabetes. Current painkillers including non-steroidal pain killers and anti-convulsant are ineffective. At the level of the spinal cord (SC), capillary regression is associated with the onset of NP in diabetic rodent models. Our aim was to investigate angiotensin II mediated pericyte activation in relation to vascular degeneration and the onset of NP. Adult male C57Bl/6J mice w...

Background: Self-care practices in patient living with diabetes are important to effectively prevent, manage, and limit complications associated with diabetes as patients spend more time alone than they spent with health care providers in managing their health conditions.Aims: The aim of the study was to evaluate self-cate practices and their determinants in patients living with type 2 diabetes. Hence, this study aimed at assessing self-care practices an...