Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Cushing’s syndrome results from chronic exposure to excessive levels of glucocorticoids (GC). The clinical manifestations associated with hypercortisolaemia are variable and differ widely in severity, including hypertension, apparent obesity and metabolic aberrations such as diabetes, dyslipidaemia, ultimately leading to changes similar to the metabolic syndrome. We hypothesised that GC might influence the expression of the genes involved in lipogenesis and gl...

Craniopharyngiomas are tumours which grow in the region of the sella, with adamantinomatous (ACP) and papillary (PCP) subtypes. While usually ‘benign’, They can have devastating long term sequelae, both from the mass effects of the tumour itself on the visual, pituitary or hypothalamic pathways, but also from the neurosurgical challenge to achieve tumour control with preservation of the surrounding pituitary and hypothalamic pathways. To date there is no satisfactory...

Background: The incidence of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) in younger populations (<50 years) is increasing and was 1.8 per 100,000 persons in 2011. There is limited data on NENs and pregnancy.Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on pregnant women with NENs managed in an ENETS Centre of Excellence. The objectives of the study were to describe the tumour characteristics, pregnancy outcomes, treatment and the tumour behaviour intra-pregnan...

Aim: The aim of investigation to determine clinical aggressiveness diagnostic markers in patients with non-functional pituitary adenomas (NFPA), and growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in the formation of gravity neuroendocrine disease symptoms.Material and methods: We observed in 87 patients (including man – 44 women – 43) of which have a verified diagnosis of NFPA after surgery – 31 which were subjected transnasal adenomectomy of the pituiat...

Case history: Herein, we report the case of a 79-year-old male who presented acutely to A&E with recurrent episodes of symptomatic hypoglycaemia. A random glucose at presentation was low at 1.4 mmol/l and upon correction symptoms resolved. While hospitalized, he continued having episodes of symptomatic hypoglycaemia, requiring treatment with intravenous dextrose and per os steroids. Once stable, he was discharged with advice.Investigations: ...

Background: Patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) and acromegaly are commonly treated with somatostatin analogs (SSAs), such as octreotide and lanreotide depot formulations. The Pharmathen syringe is now available in several European countries and the USA for lanreotide depot injection. When using SSAs, confidence in and ease of use with syringes are important for decision-making in long-term therapy. The aim of the PRESTO 3 study was to compare nurses’ preference f...

Introduction: Pituitary metastasis (PM) is a rare condition and associated with a reduced life-span. The most common primary sites are breast and lung, followed by thyroid and renal cell carcinoma. Patients with PM are mostly asymptomatic and incidentally discovered during neuroimaging. Characteristic symptoms are reported in <20% and most commonly include visual involvement, diabetes insipidus, and panhypopituitarism. We here describe a case with malignant melanoma (MM) w...

Insulin Tolerance Test (ITT) is a procedure commonly done by Endocrine Specialist Nurse in endocrine department. We look at over 120 ITT results done in 2 endocrine centres using Insulin Actrapid 0.15 UNITS/kg and 0.10 UNITS/kg dose plotting the glucose levels at 30, 45 and 60 min. We also look at peak GH and peak cortisol on each of these groups.Aims: We wanted to know how many percentage of patients achieving hypoglycaemia below 0.5 mmol/l, 0.5–1....

The prolactin receptor (PRLR) is a type-I cytokine receptor that plays critical roles in mammary gland development, lactation and glucose metabolism, and PRLR mutations have been associated with breast cancer and familial hyperprolactinaemia. The PRLR signals via Janus kinase-2-signal transducer and activator of transcription-5 (JAK2-STAT5) or phosphoinositide 3-kinase-Akt (PI3K-Akt) pathways to mediate changes in transcription, differentiation and proliferation, and we hypoth...

Introduction: Metformin is used as a first line treatment in type 2 diabetes. Several studies suggest that patients with type 2 diabetes treated with metformin may have reduced cancer risk. Recently it has been shown that Metformin acts directly on mitochondria to alter cellular bioenergetics and reduce tumorigenesis. We have shown that anti-proliferative effect of Mitotane is related with changes of expression of the genes involved in mitochondrial metabolism in human adrenoc...