Endocrine Abstracts

In Central and Eastern Cheshire, Secondary Care endocrinology/diabetes clinicians can now access a summary of the patient’s primary care electronic patient record (EPR), using a secure Web browser for GP data held by the GP provider EMIS. This improves decision making at the point of care.The clinicians, including consultants, SpRs, dieticians and specialist nurses can access details of medication, allergies, and previous diagnoses, available for 95...

Background: In most people, prolactin circulates predominantly as a 23-kDa monomer, and a high-molecular-weight form which in the vast majority of cases consists of a complex of prolactin and an anti-prolactin IgG autoantibody, commonly referred to as macroprolactin. This cross-reacts with conventional laboratory assays for prolactin.Report: In a consecutive series of 218 patients with prolactin elevated to 400 μ/l or more in men (normal range &#880...

Introduction: Dysregulation of the insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF) system and particularly IGF-I and IGF binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity, diabetes mellitus and its complications such as cardiovascular disease and nephropathy, but relatively little is known about the genomics of the IGF system in health and disease.Methods: Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in the IGFBP-1 gene, in a r...

Introduction: Propensity to centripetal adiposity is an ethnic characteristic amongst South Asians, which may underlie the excess risk for both coronary heart disease (CHD) and diabetes in this population. Circulating levels of adipocytokines (hormones which include leptin, adiponectin, tumour necrosis factor (TNF-alpha)) and C-reactive protein (CRP) reflect the adipose tissues endocrine and metabolic activity, and are implicated in CHD.Methods: We compa...

AimsThe increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus with age in the context of ageing populations worldwide highlights the need to understand better factors that influence glucose homeostasis. Our hypothesis was that lifestyle change accompanying migration influences the relationship between pancreatic beta cell function (HOMA-B) and age.MethodsWe compared a specific migrant Gujarati community in Britain...

IntroductionWe have previously shown that patients with pituitary Cushing's have impaired quality of life vs. other pituitary tumour groups. Whether this is related to direct neural effects of excess ACTH or cortisol is uncertain. In order to address this, we compared patients who had undergone definitive treatment for pituitary vs adrenal Cushings.DesignWe assessed 14 patients with biochemically cured pituit...

IntroductionThe IGF-system has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We report the effects of total energy intake on the IGF-system in two populations with a markedly different dietary macronutrient intake and cardiovascular event rate.MethodDietary macronutrient intake was measured in a specific Gujarati migrant community in Sandwell UK (n=205) compared with people ...

Context: Approximately 15% of people with hypothyroidism remain symptomatic despite treatment. The Thr92Ala substitution in DIO2, may influence T3 tissue levels.Methods: We assessed HADS anxiety and depression scores in HUNT2 in 50,901 individuals (6,687 homozygous for Thr92Ala) of whom 1,480 had a history of levothyroxine use (180 homozygous for Thr92Ala). Anxiety and depression caseness (score>=8) by levothyroxine and Thr92Ala status was a...

Context: Up to 15% of people with hypothyroidism remain symptomatic despite treatment with levothyroxine. A proportion of these utilise combination thyroid hormone replacement, T3 monotherapy and desiccated thyroid extract (DTE). We sought to explore thyroid hormone profiles in these patients.Methods: We performed hourly blood tests (8.30am-4.30pm) to assess TSH, T3 and T4 levels in 49 individuals (n =14 combination thyroid hormone replacement, ...

Background: The prevalence of obesity associated comorbidities, such as Type 2 Diabetes(T2D) and hypertension, continues to rise globally. Our study aimed to describe the long-term effects on blood pressure management in individuals with T2D post bariatric surgery in a single centre prospective observational cohort study in North-West England.Methods: We undertook a 10-year prospective cohort study on people who underwen...