Endocrine Abstracts

Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in pregnant women and associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, including pre-eclampsia. Active vitamin-D (1,25(OH)2D3) exerts important non-classical immune-regulatory effects, and the maternal placenta (decidua) appears a key target. Uterine natural killer cells (uNKs) are the most prominent decidual immune cell during early pregnancy. Given their critical role in fetal implantation and placentation, we hypothesised uNKs are a local source...

Introduction: Low levels of vitamin D are associated with higher mortality in critically ill patients. Studies on vitamin D levels in adult burn patients and their influence on clinical outcomes are scarce. Therefore, vitamin D status following thermal injury is often overlooked as its clinical implications are poorly understood.Aim: To examine the relationship of major thermal injury on the vitamin D axis and the influence of ...

Reduced renal synthesis of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D) from 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) in end stage renal disease (ESRD) results in low serum 1,25(OH)2D. This appears to be due to reduced renal cell function and elevated serum fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23). Treatment strategies have therefore focussed on 1,25(OH)2D or its synthetic analogues, alfacalcidol or paricalcitol. However this overlooks 25-hydroxyv...

Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in pregnant women and associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, including pre-eclampsia. Active vitamin-D (1,25(OH)2D3) exerts important non-classical immune-regulatory effects, and the maternal placenta (decidua) appears a key target. Uterine natural killer cells (uNKs) are the most prominent decidual immune cell during early pregnancy. Given their critical role in fetal implantation and placentation, we hypothesised uNKs are a local source...

Introduction: Low levels of vitamin D are associated with higher mortality in critically ill patients. Studies on vitamin D levels in adult burn patients and their influence on clinical outcomes are scarce. Therefore, vitamin D status following thermal injury is often overlooked as its clinical implications are poorly understood.Aim: To examine the relationship of major thermal injury on the vitamin D axis and the influence of ...

Reduced renal synthesis of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D) from 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) in end stage renal disease (ESRD) results in low serum 1,25(OH)2D. This appears to be due to reduced renal cell function and elevated serum fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23). Treatment strategies have therefore focussed on 1,25(OH)2D or its synthetic analogues, alfacalcidol or paricalcitol. However this overlooks 25-hydroxyv...

Recent in-vitro studies have shown that vitamin D metabolites undergo conjugation reactions by sulfation and glucuronidation and may be important mechanisms for the inactivation, storage and excretion of analytes. However the circulating concentrations and clinical significance of phase II vitamin D conjugation is unclear as current analysis has almost exclusively been restricted to measuring their unconjugated metabolite forms. In this study we aimed to develop an analytical ...

The glucocorticoid (GC) activating enzyme 11β-HSD1 is potently upregulated within macrophages and synovial fibroblasts of inflamed joints, where it increases therapeutic GC signalling and regulates their anti-inflammatory profiles. Whilst in vitro studies have demonstrated the importance of autocrine signalling in this context, the importance of paracrine signalling remains poorly defined. In this study, we examined the role of 11β-HSD1 in paracrine GC signalling bet...

Vitamin D exists as two forms; D3 (UV) and D2 (plant derived). Measuring the metabolite 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) is routinely applied in research and clinical laboratories to assess vitamin D status. The Institute of Medicine and Society for Endocrinology have previously set recommended vitamin D guidelines based on combined 25OHD3 and 25OHD2 serum concentrations. In order to achieve accurate quantitation of these metabolites, the respective C3 epimers must be separately qu...

In chronic inflammatory disease, an increased proportion of M1 polarised macrophages have been shown to contribute to inflammation and tissue damage through the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNFα. Previously, we have identified expression of the enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1), which converts inactive glucocorticoids (GCs) to their active counterparts, in M1 polarised macrophages in vivo. We hypothesised that 11β...