Endocrine Abstracts

Nectin-2, a major protein component of the adherens junctions (AJs), is found between Sertoli cells and germ cells in the seminiferious epithelium. Recent studies have shown that the expression of nectin-2 gene in testis is crucial to maintain normal spermatogenesis since male knockout mice lacking nectin-2 gene are sterile and possess morphological abnormal spermatozoa. However, the molecular mechanisms governing its basal transcription remain poorly understood. By the use of...

Background: Community based surveys have revealed that approximately 20% of patients taking thyroxine have low serum TSH concentrations. Likewise, a high proportion of patients (27%) have been found to have high TSH concentrations. Suboptimal thyroxine treatment, in particular overtreatment, is associated with significant potential health risks including atrial fibrillation and osteoporosis. In Sheffield, thyroxine treated patients are routinely enrolled on a computerised thyr...

Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and its related product perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA) are anthropogenic fluorosurfactants widely used in consumer products. In general, studies in rodents have supported the conception that PFOS perturbs testis function, such as by inducing Sertoli cell injury. It remains to be demonstrated if similar effects could be reproduced in humans. We sought to examine its effects on human spermatogenesis by using a human Sertoli cell primary culture syst...

South Korea has a universal health coverage system that the National Health Insurance covers approximately 98% of the overall Korean population. The claims data of HIRA contains 46 million patients per year that account for 90% of the total population in Korea and include claims from almost 80,000 healthcare service providers across South Korea as of 2011. National Health Insurance (NHI) reimbursement coverage continues to expand and there will be full reimbursement of cancer,...

A 51 year old female presented with an Adjusted Calcium (Adj Cal) of 1.68mmol/l (Ref: 2.20-2.60 mmol/l), raised PTH 24.2 pmol/l (1.6-6.9 pmol/l) and raised Alkaline phosphatase (ALP). She had a background of type 2 intestinal failure secondary to surgical complications resulting in stoma formation. She reported peri-oral tingling, joint stiffness, cramps and generalised pain over several months which left her requiring the use of a wheelchair for mobilisation. There was proxim...

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...

Objective: Having a psychiatric disorder may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) and we aimed to determine whether young adults with a psychiatric disorder have an increased risk of developing T2D.Research Design and Methods: We conducted a nationwide cohort study to evaluate the association of different psychiatric disorders with the risk of T2D in the young population. Records of 6.457.991 adults aged 20−39 years without a histo...

Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) is one of the most common chemical ingredients for daily necessities that can be absorbed through the skin, aerosol, or even orally. People are exposed to D5 daily, but the risk of prenatal exposure to D5 is not completely understood. In this study, the effects of prenatal exposure to D5 on neural development were assessed through behavioral tests on offspring mice. First, the developmental neurotoxicity test (DNT) was performed to determine i...

In our daily life, humans are exposed to lots of chemicals. Among those chemicals, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) have been widely used in cosmetics for their functions such as softening, wetting, and viscosity control. However, the effect of these chemicals on the female reproductive systems has not been clearly elucidated. In the case of D4, it was recently recognized as an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC), but the effect of D5 has...

Mitochondria play an important role in generating energy, and they are essential to cell survival. Mitochondria have varieties of functions, such as regulating intracellular calcium concentration and signal transduction, controlling hormone synthesis, inflammatory responses, and free radicals. In particular, this research is interested in the mitochondria in kidney tubular cell. Since mitochondria in tubular cells play an important role in supplying energy, removal of waste an...