Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Middle ear disease in Turner syndrome (TS) is common, often resulting in troublesome temporary hearing loss, and more rarely to serious suppurative disease with cholesteatoma formation. We have examined the prevalence and pattern of middle ear disease in our TS clinic in relation to age and karyotype.Methods: Case note review of all girls with TS attending clinic 1989–2012, scoring the most serious middle ear problem for each as: none ...

Overt hypothyroidism (OH) and more controversially subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) are associated with abnormal lipid metabolism and endothelial dysfunction under fasting conditions. Little data exists regarding the metabolic and vascular effects of OH or SCH under postprandial conditions.We aimed to characterize postprandial metabolism with emphasis on intestinally derived lipoproteins, HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) and endothelial function in patients with ...

Maternal programming increases the risk of alterations in the offspring’s HPA axis. Previously we showed that maternal undernutrition in sheep induces epigenetic changes in the glucocorticoid receptors (GR) within hypothalamic energy balance pathways, without affecting HPA axis GR. However, these studies focussed on fetal tissues1. Here, we investigated whether GR is epigenetically altered in the HPA axis of adult offspring to determine the status of the pathwa...

Peripheral insulin resistance is a major defect associated with glucose intolerance and type two diabetes. Yet the mechanism(s) responsible for this defect remain to be determined. Inositol pyrophosphate (IP7) is formed via the enzyme IP6K1 from IP6. The inhibition of Akt, and the potential decrease in insulin signalling, through the binding of IP7 to the Akt PH domain represents an exciting research area.Firstly, we will characterise this mechanism in h...

Background: Cholesteatoma, a serious suppurative middle ear condition, has an increased prevalence in Turner syndrome (TS).Aims: To estimate its incidence in our TS population; identify risk factors; highlight distinctive operative findings; and suggest strategies for earlier detection.Methods: Retrospective casenote review for patients attending a TS clinic to identify those with cholesteatoma; each age-matched with three unaffect...

Background: Puberty is understood to be commonly affected in adolescents with Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).Objective: To determine the impact of IBD on pubertal status and pubertal growth.Methods: Single centre prospective study over 12 months of 45 adolescents (boys, 23) with CD and 18 (boys, 12) with UC with a median age of 13.4 years (10, 16.6). Assessment included details of disease, anthropometry and b...

Introduction: During gestation diminished maternal insulin sensitivity (IS) increases the availability of fuels allowing fetal growth. Very severe obesity (Class III obesity (OB), BMI≥40 kg/m2) is associated with reduced IS but it is 28 how nutrient availability differs and how this impacts on birth weight versus normal pregnancies (CON). Methods: 213 OB (median (interquartile range) 43.2(41.1–46.3) kg/m2) and 87 CON (BM...

Background: Pituitary macroadenomas are an uncommon cause of Cushing’s disease. They present with a higher cortisol burden, are more aggressive and harder to cure and manage than microadenomas.Aims: To review the demographics, clinical features, biochemistry, radiology and required treatment modalities of a single-centre case series of corticotroph macroadenomas.Methods: Retrospective analysis and review of the case records of...

Introduction: A previous case-report described one individual whose significant sleep disturbance in association with septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) was corrected with melatonin administration. Subsequently a trial of melatonin treatment in children with SOD and sleep disruption has become accepted clinical practice in many centres. There are however no published data describing melatonin secretion in these individuals.Methods: We studied six children with ...

Hyperthyroidism in Graves’ disease is due to TSH receptor (TSHR) autoantibodies (TRAb) directed against the TSH binding pocket. Detection of TRAb in clinical rou-tine is performed by 2nd gen assays using human or porcine TSHR. Such TSH bin- ding inhibition immunoglobulin (TBII) assays determine the ability of TRAb to inhi- bit the binding of labelled TSH to immobilized TSHR. TRAb are present in low con- centrations and mostly recognize conformational epitopes. The conform...