Endocrine Abstracts

Case History: 29 year old lady presented with profuse diarrhoea, lethargy and hypokalaemia in 2010. CT scan confirmed mass lesion in tail of pancreas. Chromogranin A and 24 hour urinary 5HIAA were normal. Fasting Gut hormone level showed elevated level of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP), suggesting diagnosis of VIPoma. Further investigations confirmed hyperparathyroidism and microprolactinoma. Investigations: Adjusted calcium 2.98 mmol/l (<2.55), ...

Gonadotroph pituitary tumors (GnPiT) account for ~40% of pituitary tumors surgically treated and 70-75% of non-functional pituitary tumors. Functional gonadotropin-secreting tumors are rare and clinical manifestations vary according to the age and sex of the patient. They are benign tumors which, due to their silent nature, can grow and invade surrounding structures, making complete resection impossible and leading to recurrence in ~30% of cases.Objectiv...

Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) involves the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic islet beta cells, with recent research implicating a role for viral infections in its onset. The rise in T1D cases during the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked investigations into potential causes. Molecular mimicry between SARS-CoV-2 antigens and pancreatic islet antigens has been suggested as a plausible mechanism, yet no attempts have been made to explore this phenomenon as comparing f...

We present a case of a 44-year-old female with fluctuating thyroid function over 12-14 years. The patient originally presented with a high TSH, normal free T3/T4 and a negative anti-TPO antibody. She was initially monitored, then went onto Levothyroxine replacement in an antenatal setting. Subsequently, 12-18 months later, she presented with hyperthyroid symptoms and vastly elevated TSH-receptor-antibody (TSHR-ab) titre of >10 IU/L, the upper limit of normal being 2.9 IU/L...

A recent case series commented on adverse COVID-19 outcomes among patients with Cushing’s syndrome, despite minimal symptoms and low inflammatory markers. Excessive glucocorticoids can impede adaptive immune response to viruses, leading to increased infection risks (1). Sarker et al discussed glucocorticoids binding to viral spike-proteins, inhibiting receptor interactions and contributing to prolonged positive swabs, in the absence of symptoms (2). We report the c...

Objective: Differences in body weight and clinical features of typical vs atypical anorexia nervosa (A.N) might be explained by the genetic background. We aimed to evaluate the association between the subtypes of A.N. and the genetic polymorphisms of the thrombotic panel or the methyltetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene.Methods: A total of 40 adolescent girls with A.N., aged 13–19 years, were evaluated. We recorded anthropometric parameters, amen...

Introduction: Pituitary Neuroendocrine tumours (PitNETs) present heterogenic characteristics based on their hormonal expression and secretion. While most PitNETs have a slow progression rate, a subset of them exhibit an aggressive behaviour with recurrence properties despite current surgery, radio- and chemotherapy. To explore new clinical strategies based on immunotherapy we initiated a systemic cartography of the pituitary tumour immune microenvironment (PiTME).<p class=...

Background: Tumour microenvironment (TME) can comprise >50% of the tumour mass and includes non-tumour cells like immune cells and fibroblasts, as well as extracellular matrix, signaling molecules, and blood and lymph vessels. In recent years, TME has begun to be considered both a prognostic tool and a therapeutic target. While the existence of TME is well accepted and described in numerous cancers, little is known about the TME of pituitary neuroendocrine tumours (PitNETs...

Prostate cancer (PC) becomes resistant to chronic castration via an adaptive increase in androgen receptor (AR) axis activity. AR overexpression, however, is a liability that can be exploited therapeutically through rapid cycling between high supraphysiologic and low castrate levels of serum testosterone (T), (Bipolar Androgen Therapy (BAT)). In a pilot study, 14 men with CRPC treated with BAT showed a 50% PSA and objective response. A larger study was initiated in which asymp...

Objective: To evaluate the results of laparoscopic adrenalectomy in our institutions.Methods: Prospectively collected data from 2000 to 2007.Results: During the 8-year study period, 160 laparoscopic adrenalectomies were performed in 150 patients. Mean age was 49.8 years (female: 60.7%). Twenty-seven patients (18%) had previous open abdominal operations. There were 10 bilateral (6.6%) for Cushing’s disease, 64 right (42.7%) and...