Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: To find out the proportion of patients with morbid obesity who may have co-existing eating disorders, using EAT-26 (Eating Attitude Test) Questionnaire.Method: All patients who attended the specialist morbid obesity clinic, between January 2005 and December 2007, at a university hospital were included in the study. EAT -26 questionnaires were given to the patients at the time of their referral. The specialist dietician took responsibility for...

Obesity-associated inflammation is a major contributory factor in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the mechanisms underlying the progression of T2DM are yet to be fully elucidated. The adipokine, resistin, has recently been implicated as a pro-inflammatory cytokine in obesity-related T2DM. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterise the role of resistin in the innate immune inflammatory pathway within isolated human abdominal subcutaneous ...

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a centrally expressed peptide with potent orexigenic properties, released post-prandially to stimulate appetite, regulated by insulin and altered by obesity. NPY is expressed in adipose tissue which suggests it may have a potential effect on altering appetite control in obesity. To date no study has investigated NPY and its regulation in human adipose tissue. Therefore, the aims of this study were to 1) determine the depot-specific expression in abdomin...

CGRP, a potent vasodilator, is elevated in the intense periods during menopausal hot flushes and presently represents a candidate mediator of vasomotor symptoms. However due to the short half-life of CGRP, the local paracrine effects may be more important than systemic effects. These local paracrine effects may be mediated in conjunction with adipose tissue, due to close physical proximity with the vasculature; as well as altered oestrogen metabolism following menopause. There...

Obesity-mediated diabetes is associated with insulin resistance/hyperinsulinaemia and chronic sub-clinical inflammation. Recent studies have highlighted fatty liver(steatosis) as a risk factor for diabetes. Fatty liver disease (FLD) progresses through fatty liver, necro-inflammation (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH) and fatwith fibrosis. In addition, hepatic steatosis per se can lead to hepatic insulin resistance/hyperin...

Chronic sub-clinical inflammation is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Patients undergoing CABG are at high risk of further cardiovascular events and also demonstrate sub-clinical inflammation. We therefore investigated alterations in the relative balance between pro-inflammatory agents, such as hsCRP versus changes in anti-inflammatory factors (adiponectin) and as such the potential molecular pathways mediating these changes. The ai...

Chronic sub-clinical inflammation is associated with both type 2 diabetes and related vascular complications which is coupled with pro-inflammatory markers, such as IL-6, TNF-alpha and C-reactive protein (CRP). Resistin is the latest protein to be linked with inflammation and insulin resistance in obesity. Adipose tissue has been previously established as a source of circulating resistin, TNF-alpha and IL-6. As our previous studies demonstrated a correlation between serum resi...

Chronic sub-clinical inflammation is associated with increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and is particularly observed in patients that have undergone CABG. Resistin, a novel adipocyte derived protein, has been linked with central adiposity, insulin resistance and sub-clinical inflammation and may mediate both systemic and local paracrine pro-inflammatory responses in vivo. As such we investigated serum resistin from CABG patients and examined whether e...

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is associated with insulin resistance and chronic sub-clinical inflammation. Pro-inflammatory cytokines produced from adipose tissue are secreted as part of the innate immune response and also associated with insulin resistance. In contrast, adipocyte derived adiponectin is associated with insulin sensitivity and also has anti-inflammatory properties. Hence fat may represent a site for mediating the innate immune response. We therefore investigated a mec...

A 62 year old woman presented in May 2001 with a one year history of palpitations. A 24 hour tape showed a short run of supra ventricular tachycardia only.In December 2001 she was admitted with palpitations, presyncope and a labile blood pressure. Systolic pressures of 150-186mmHg and diastolic pressures of 95-112mmHg were recorded. 24 hour urine collection for catecholamines revealed normal adrenaline levels but elevated noradrenaline at 5265 nanomols p...