Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: In April 2019 a team of healthcare professionals took a group of young people with type 1 Diabetes to Botswana for a healthcare partnership project with Diabetes Botswana. The trip included a joint diabetes youth camp and the delivery of Botswana’s first ever Diabetes Educational Symposium.Objectives: The primary aim of the project was to provide a reciprocal learning experience for the management of type 1 diabetes for healthcare prof...

Case history: A 76-year-old female presented following an unwitnessed. On arrival she was confused, dehydrated, complaining of nausea, constipation and abdominal pain. Bloods tests revealed serum calcium of 3.6 mmol/l. She had a history of bipolar disorder and had been taken off lithium due to suspected lithium-induced hyperparathyroidism. Whilst an inpatient, she had a sudden drop in consciousness (Glasgow Coma Scale 3). She was hypotensive, dehydrated and had an average urin...

Introduction: To date, psychological research on pancreatic transplantation has focused mainly on illness and quality of life. Research has been predominantly quantitative rendering it impossible to identify specific psychological issues faced by patients. Uniquely, this work considered post-transplant issues in the context of the pre-transplant psychological burden of patients with T1DM.Methods: 21 individuals with T1DM were interviewed (11 males; five ...

Normal placental and fetal growth are important for neonatal and lifelong health. Placental growth is influenced by endogenous microRNAs (miRs) which regulate translation of their target genes into proteins. Recently, plant miRs from ingested food have been detected in mammalian circulation; maternal fruit and vegetable intake is important for normal development but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. We hypothesised that miRNAs from maternal dietary fruit and v...

Introduction: National Standards and Guidelines for referral of presumptive cases of congenital hypothyroidism (CHT) were developed in 2005 by the UK newborn bloodspot screening (NBS) programme centre (UKNSPC). The standards are being revised and NBS lab experience was explored as part of this process.Methods: A short questionnaire was circulated to all 16 UK NBS laboratories. The information requested included details of referral pattern in the event of...

Background/aims: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women, being characterized by ovarian hyperandrogenism attributed to intrinsic overproduction by theca cells (TCs). Although previous reports pointed a higher stability and transcription of CYP17mRNA (Wickenheisser JK et al. 2006)1, few have examined (and none has quantified) P450c17 protein expression in TCs from PCOS ovaries. Therefore, the aim of this study is to qua...

Insulin resistance is common in women with PCOS. Insulin and IGF-1 affect glucose uptake and metabolism via insulin receptor substrate (IRS-1) and the phosphotidyl inositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. Impaired glucose metabolism has been observed in granulosa-lutein cells from anovulatory (but not ovulatory) women with PCO (Rice et al. 2005). The aim of this study was to analyse IRS-1 protein expression in human preantral follicles in samples of normal and PCO. Immunohisto...

Preantral follicle development in polycystic ovaries (PCO) is characterised by an increased proportion of early growing follicles. We have previously shown that IGF-1 stimulates initiation of follicle growth in normal and PCO (Endocrine Abstracts 2004 7 P172). Here we have extended these studies, specifically to examine whether the ovulatory status of the patients from whom tissue is obtained influences the response to IGF-1. Small ovarian biopsies were obtained (with ethical ...

Objectives: In the UK the majority of young people presenting for the first time with signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes (T1D) are initially seen by general practitioners (GPs). Mis- or delayed diagnosis is not uncommon, and it increases the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis-related morbidity. This study seeks to identify the specific challenges faced by GPs in this setting in order to develop effective care pathways and recommendations for improving the timely diagnosis of T1D...

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a debilitating, multifactorial disease with a complex mix of genetic and environmental pathomechanisms. For this reason, effective treatment of T2D requires a varied arsenal of therapeutic strategies and indeed, it is an excellent candidate for precision medicine. Essential for this, we need a more detailed understanding of the genetic drivers and how these differ between individuals. There is an ever-intensifying global effort to identify genetic asso...