Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Corticosteroid Binding Globulin (CBG) binds >85% of plasma cortisol and controls the circulating free cortisol pool. Proteolytic cleavage by neutrophil elastase is proposed to reduce CBG binding affinity and increase free cortisol availability to inflamed tissues. The CORtisol NETwork (CORNET) consortium found that genetic variation at a locus spanning SERPINA1 (encoding alpha-1 antitrypsin, A1AT, the endogenous inhibitor of neutrophil elastase) and SE...

Introduction: Gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) quantitatively detects many steroids at one time in a single serum sample. Cushing’s syndrome (CS) caused by adrenal adenoma is often associated with decreased DHEAS, whereas low levels of aldosterone in ACTH dependent CS and also low levels of 18-oxocortisol were observed in ectopic CS. We aimed to evaluate steroid differences in various types of CS.Methods: In serum from patients...

Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that is manifested by progressive loss of cognitive function. Neuroactive steroids and their metabolites have an important regulatory role in the nervous system, affect neuronal plasticity, response to stress, learning and memory and have a neuroprotective effect. One of the not fully elucidated risk factors for AD is impaired glucose tolerance/type 2 diabetes (T2D). It is well known that lower androgen...

The aim of the study was a detailed analysis and a comparison of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis tests and cortisol metabolites analysis during these tests. This procedure might enable to design new diagnosis algorithms of hypocorticalism and normal levels for salivary cortisol estimation for early diagnostic of patients with hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis disorder as well as to give us a possibility to reveal adrenal disorder in patients on estrog...

There are 1.21 million deaths from road traffic accidents worldwide. In Afghanistan, there have been 2005 battle injuries over 10 years. Advances in military trauma care have improved survival, resulting in more severely injured individuals entering the trauma care pathway. Improved understanding of endocrine-immune changes after severe trauma may facilitate novel interventions to improve outcomes. We prospectively recruited 102 severely injured patients at the Queen Elizabeth...

Neck ultrasound (US) can facilitate minimally invasive parathyroidectomy by providing fine anatomical detail of enlarged parathyroid adenomas in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). The role of neck MRI in US negative/equivocal cases remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the performance of neck MRI in parathyroid tumour localisation in the setting of negative or equivocal neck US.We performed a retrospective review of a consecutive series of...

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with features of the insulin resistance syndrome and altered glucose homeostasis. Factors that play an important role in these processes are still emerging. Adipokines and pro-inflammatory cytokines may be involved in development of insulin resistance in PCOS. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between adiponectin, resistin, leptin, interleukin (IL) 4, IL6, IL10, tumor necrosis factor α (T...

Background and aims: The mechanisms in HIV by which mitochondrial dysfunction occurs, leading to impaired energy homeostasis and metabolic regulation, are unclear; although similarities are noted in T2DM. Therefore, we investigated the effect of HIV status and ARV therapy on several mitochondrial and nuclear encoded genes related to mitochondrial metabolism and energy homeostasis.Materials and methods: Subcutaneous AT biopsies from the ileac crest were o...

Detailed information on adrenal function in autoimmune Type 1 diabetes with onset in adult age is still missing. This work compared diabetics with low response (LR) to diabetics with normal response (NR) to low dose ACTH test and control group (C).Thirty-two diabetics were investigated; LR (n=16), NR (n=16), age 44±10 years (mean±S.D.), age at diagnosis 28.5±10 years, disease duration 15±8 years, BMI 24.5&...

Childhood obesity and its later progression to Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) are known to be associated with sub-clinical inflammation; although the underlying cause for this is unclear. However, studies suggest that bacterial endotoxin (LPS) derived from commensal bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract may contribute directly to sub-clinical inflammation. Human adipose tissue expresses toll like receptors that induce an inflammatory cascade in the presence of endotoxin. Hence,...