Endocrine Abstracts

Imprinted genes differ from most gene pairs in that only one gene of the pair is expressed determined by the parent they originate from. Many have been shown to play an important role in fetal growth and neurodevelopment. Most imprinted genes are found in clusters and expression is controlled by imprinting centres that contain differentially methylated regions. Monoallelic expression makes imprinted genes particularly vulnerable to naturally occurring genetic rearrangements an...

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The purpose of this study was to describe MRI signs of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) in patients from the iodine deficient region.30 euthyroid patients with HT from the iodine deficient region and 5 healthy individuals were examined by MRI in FSE T1 and T2 pulse sequences. The diagnosis was confirmed according to the standard criteria.The atrophic form of HT (2 cases) showed the reduction of thyroid volume with denominated lobu...

Thyroid nodule is a potential thyroid cancer and hence prompt assessment of all cases is mandatory. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is a simple and reliable test in the management of thyroid nodule.This is a prospective audit of all new patients with thyroid nodules referred to our endocrine unit in the period between November 2000 to March 2002. 64 patients were identified, 57(89%) of which were females. The mean average age was 49. Thyroid function test w...

Symptomatic pituitary metastasis is an uncommon presentation of primary carcinoma. We report a case of a 65 years old lady who presented with a six week history of headache and diplopia and a five day history of diarrhoea and vomiting. She also suffered from osteoporosis. She had undergone a hysterectomy for a fibroid. Examination revealed diplopia in all directions of gaze, no papilloedema and an unremarkable systemic examination. Brain MRI showed a contrast enhancing pituita...

The UKPDS trial confirmed that improving glycaemic control (median 0.9 % HbA1c difference over median 10 years), with sulphonylurea or insulin therapy, could reduce significantly the risk of microvascular complications (25%, p=0.0099) and was associated with a 16% trend (p=0.052) to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). In overweight UKPDS patients allocated metformin as first line therapy the 0.6% median HbA1c difference obtained was associated...

A 41 year old male presented with erectile dysfunction associated with clinical hypogonadism (testosterone 0.8 nanomoles/litre). Hypopituitarism was confirmed on endocrine testing: Free T3 2.7 picomoles/litre, TSH 1.7 milliunits/litres, LH 0.6 units/litre, FSH 2.3 units/litre, PRL 34 units/litre, GH <0.5 milliunits/litre, IGF-1 10.5 nanomoles/litre, flat response of LH and FSH to Gn-RH, GH <0.5 milliunits/litre throughout ITT. (Cortisol rose from 197 to 523 nanomoles/lit...

A 75 year old woman was treated for over three years with the somatostatin analogue, octreotide for insulinoma. She had presented in a hypoglycaemic coma. C-peptide and insulin levels were both raised. Cortisol, TSH, a gut hormone screen and urinary sulphonylurea levels were all normal. No adenoma was identified on CT or MRI scanning but angiography showed an area of increased vascularity within the pancreas. At laparotomy no lesion was found and no resection was undertaken. B...

Introduction: Aggressive angiomyxoma is a rare, benigne, misdiagnosed tumor that occurs preferentially in women during the reproductive age.Case report: We present a 43-year-old Caucasin woman diagnosed with aggressive multifocal angomyxoma developing for the last 8 years. The patient underwent five surgical procedures during this period of time in order to debulk the pelvis and subperitoneal space of a large invasive tumor. The last surgical approach re...

There are a limited range of drugs available to treat type 2 diabetes (T2D) and insulin resistance (IR) that are efficacious and inexpensive. In West Africa, extracts of Hymenocardia acida are frequently used. However, few objective studies have yet attested to their efficacy. Here we evaluated the potential for extracts of H. acida to overcome IR in muscle in vitro.Crude extracts of H. acida were prepared in methanol ...