Endocrine Abstracts

IntroductionYttrium-90 pituitary implants were used in the past as one of the first line treatments for pituitary tumours in many endocrine centres. The procedure involved inserting radioactive rods of Yttrium oxide in to the pituitary fossa. This treatment has been replaced by medical treatment for prolactinomas and transsphenoidal surgery for all other pituitary tumours.AimTo investigate long-term efficacy ...

Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFAs) constitute 25-30% of all pituitary tumours. NFAs do not secrete hormones and patients present with clinical features due to mass effects of the tumour such as visual field defects or hypopituitarism. Surgery and radiotherapy (RT) have been considered standard therapy for patients with a non-functioning macroadenoma. However, since MRI scanning has become widely available fewer patients are routinely referred for RT following surgery.</...

Androgen therapy is the mainstay of treatment in female to male (FtM) transgender persons to increase testosterone levels, suppress oestrogens and treat gender dysphoria. Testosterone is widely used for male hypogonadism, but is comparatively under-investigated in FtM transgender persons. The aim of our study was to identify treatment and safety outcomes associated with testosterone use in transgender medicine. A literature search was conducted in PubMed/Medline, as well as EM...

Background: Infertility affects 1 in 6 couples causing devastating psychological impact. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment can aid couples to conceive, but personalisation of treatment is needed to optimise patient outcomes. Machine learning can aid in the analysis of large complex datasets such as those encountered during IVF treatment. One example is in determining the optimal follicle size on the day of trigger to maximise the number of oocytes collected. Both follicle...

Kisspeptin (Kp) and its receptor (KISS1R) are essential for reproduction, with dysfunction in their activities leading to reproductive disorders, such as precocious puberty and hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. Kp is synthesised and secreted within specialist nuclei of the hypothalamus, modulating the HPG axis. Kp is a 54 amino acid peptide, which can undergo proteolytic cleavage into smaller peptides, including Kp10, which retain biological activities. However, little is known ...

Introduction: Graves’ disease is the commonest cause of hyperthyroidism accounting for 80% of all cases. The first line treatment for Graves’ disease in the UK is medical therapy, most frequently using a ‘dose-titration’ regimen. Currently, there is a lack of guidance to aid clinicians in carrying out optimal dose-titration of carbimazole, resulting in a risk of under- or over-treatment. Thus, we aimed to develop a carbimazole dosing-algorithm for the medic...

Coupling the release of pituitary hormones to the developmental stage of the oocyte is essential for female fertility. It requires estrogen to have simultaneous positive and negative feedback effects on spatially-distinct regions of the hypothalamus. However, the mechanistic basis for this differential effect is not known. We have found that negative-feedback is mediated by the nuclear receptor Dax1, which is present in the arcuate hypothalamic nucleus and serves as a ligand-d...

A 38-year-old man presented on the acute medical take with a week’s history of sore throat, dysphagia, neck swelling, and fever. One month prior he had suffered a respiratory tract infection, which resolved without antibiotics. He had no notable past medical and family history. He was a non-smoker and drank 15 units of alcohol per week. On examination he looked well, was afebrile, sweaty and flushed; chest was clear, heart sounds were normal, regular pulse (110 bpm) and B...

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a common feature of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP). However, replacement of vitamin D is not routinely performed in clinical practice, due to concerns about its safety. Furthermore, it is not clear whether vitamin D deficiency worsens the biochemical derangements observed in patients with PHP.Aim: To determine the relationship between 25(OH) vitamin D status and biochemical markers in patients with PHP.<p class=...

Background: Patients with acromegaly require lifetime monitoring due to the excess mortality and morbidity associated with untreated disease, and the propensity for disease relapse following treatment. There is controversy whether GH or insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), better predicts the onset of cardiovascular complications such as cardiomyopathy and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in acromegalic patients.Aim: To examine associations of overall GH an...