Endocrine Abstracts

Measurement of anti-thyroglobulin (TgAb) predicts interference in thyroblobulin (Tg) assays and is a tumour marker for differentiated thyroid cancer (dtc). However, there is poor concordance between methods. This is attributed to the nature of TgAb, the method and cut-off used. We have assessed concordance between three TgAb assays and investigated the cause of discordant results. TgAb was measured in sera from 606 different patients being treated for dtc using the Abbott Arch...

Introduction: The presence of thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies in euthyroid children poses a potential risk for the development of autoimmune hypothyroidism. Little is known about the ontogeny of this process. This retrospective study aims to estimate the risk of developing hypothyroidism in euthyroid children with raised TPO antibodies and provide a guideline for follow up.Methods: Children 0–16 years with raised TPO antibodies (1996–2005) ...

Exposure to maternal obesity or overfeeding during early development has lasting effects upon the young adult rat. Maternal cafeteria (CD) feeding during lactation programmes behaviour in the adult offspring, reducing anxiety in males and altering the behavioural satiety sequence in females. The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of early exposure to maternal over-nutrition upon bioactive amines in the brain. Lactating Wistar rats were fed either a control chow...

Trans-differentiation of osteoblasts to adipocytes may in part be responsible for diseases such as osteoporosis and arthritis. The processes involved are however complex and largely unknown. Our previous data showed that the adenosine A2b receptor (A2bR) is important for human osteoprogenitor cell function. In this study, we investigated the expression of adenosine receptors in an osteoblast cell line (7F2) and during its differentiation into adipocytes (7F2A).<p class="ab...

Osteoblasts and adipocytes are derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), although the mechanisms involved are not fully understood. Our previous findings showed that MSCs express functional adenosine receptors (ARs) and that adenosine stimulates osteoblastogenesis. Here we describe changes in AR expression as MSCs differentiate into osteoblasts and adipocytes, and provide evidence that ARs are involved in these differentiation pathways.Rat MSCs were dif...

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is associated with a two-fold increase in risk of cardiovascular disease and a five-fold increase in risk for diabetes.The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of MS in patients with Type 1 diabetes using the latest IDF criteria and evaluate any correlation between MS and daily insulin dosage.Seventy-five patients (44 males, 31 females; mean age 43 years; age range 19–73 years) with type 1 d...

Exposure to stressful events during development is known to have significant effects on a range of phenotypic traits in later life. Several mammalian studies have linked early post-natal stress to later changes in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, underlying the physiological response to stress. However, the physiological link (lactational hormonal transfer) between mother and offspring during post-natal development limits our ability to determine the direct effec...

Recent data suggests that oestrogen(E)-responsive somatostatin neurones are involved in the generation of the ovine GnRH surge. Specifically, somatostatin neurones in the hypothalamus are activated (as assessed by nuclear fos) and mRNA levels are elevated in the early stages of the surge induction process. In addition, somatostatin fibres have been visualised in close apposition to hypothalamic GnRH neurones, which may indicate direct neural connection between GnRH and somatos...

Feeding a cafeteria diet in rodent pregnancy can induce altered food preferences and greater weight gain in the resulting offspring. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of diet induced obesity or high fat feeding on maternal adaptation to pregnancy.Three week-old Wistar rats were fed either chow diet alone (n=24) or cafeteria diet (n=24) for 8 weeks before mating. After mating, the rats were maintained on the chow diet (CO/CF) (...

It has previously been shown that protein restriction during pregnancy impairs the physiological adaption to pregnancy by reducing plasma volume expansion. This may mediate the effects of maternal diet on placental and fetal development. This study investigated the mechanisms by which maternal diet interacts with plasma volume expansion.Female Wistar rats were mated and fed a control (18%, n=32) or low protein (9%, n=32) diet during pregnan...