Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Androsterone glucuronide (ADTG) concentrations have been suggested as a more reliable marker of the effects of androgen at the target tissue level and is significantly elevated in hirsute compared to non-hirsute women with PCOS. As the mechanism for hyperandrogenemia in obese and nonobese PCOS may differ, this study compares the different precursors of testosterone, including DHEAS, ADTG and androstenedione in nonobese compared to obese women with PCOS and their imp...

Background: The identification of MRAP in 2005 as the first melanocortin-2-receptor (MC2R)/ACTH receptor accessory protein provided insight into the regulation of the melanocortin receptor system. Mutations in MRAP cause Familial glucocorticoid deficiency, an autosomal recessive disorder resulting in isolated cortisol deficiency. In vitro studies showed that MRAP was essential for the functional expression of the MC2R. The melanocortin receptor (MCR) family (MC1R to MC5...

Context: Weight loss and metformin therapy are beneficial in improving the hormonal and metabolic consequences of PCOS. Rimonabant has been found to reduce weight and improve the metabolic profile in patients with metabolic syndrome.Objective: To compare the effects of metformin and rimonabant on insulin resistance and biochemical hyperandrogenemia.Subjects: Twenty patients with PCOS and biochemical hyperandrogenemia were recruited...

Context: Rimonabant has been found to reduce weight and improve the metabolic profile in patients with metabolic syndrome as well as PCOS.Objective: To compare the effects of metformin and rimonabant in patients with PCOS with and without metabolic syndrome according to ATP III criteria.Design: A randomised open labelled parallel study comparing the effects on rimonabant and metformin in patients with PCOS.Su...

Estrogen Receptor (ER) regulation of target gene transcription is a significant factor in tumor development and progression. Previous work on ER-mediated transcription focused primarily on promoter regions of target genes, although recent work from our lab combining ER Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) with tiled microarrays covering chromosomes 21 and 22, showed that distal enhancers appear to be the primary ER binding sites, and that these sites require the Forkhead prote...

Background: A previous study suggested an increased absolute and intraindividual variability of insulin resistance (IR) in overweight women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) which may contribute to the increase in cardiovascular risk. There had been no previous data on the change in variability of IR in PCOS with treatment.Methods: PCOS women were recruited using the Rotterdam criteria [mean age (±S.E.M.) 26.4(±1.5)yrs and ...

Objective: Mounting evidence has shown an increased risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in association with elevated exposure to air pollution. However, limited evidence is available concerning the effect of specific air pollutant(s) on GDM incidence.Methods: We conducted this case-control study on 6717 mothers with GDM diagnosed in 2006–2013 and 6717 age- and year of delivery-matched controls to further address the risk of GDM in relation t...

The Hippo kinase cascade is a crucial signalling pathway regulating organ growth during development in numerous organs. There is mounting evidence implicating this signalling pathway in tumour formation, where it is emerging as an anti-cancer target due to effective pharmacological inhibition of its transcriptional activators YAP/TAZ. We previously demonstrated activity of the Hippo kinase cascade in the mouse pituitary and nuclear association of YAP/TAZ with SOX2 expressing p...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of untreated growth hormone deficiency (GHD) over 2 yrs in elderly patients with hypothalamic-pituitary disease. Controls were also followed for 2 yrs.SUBJECTS: 27 patients (>65 yrs) with GHD (mean) peak stimulated GH 1.6 mIU/l(range 0.6-5)were initially studied. Two yrs later 21(13 males) agreed to attend for reassessment. 27 controls (>65 y) were studied at baseline and 17 (7 males) agreed to attend for reassessmen...

ObjectiveIn BALB/c mice with GD model, the TSHR and ICAM-1 were targeted for treatment, and new approaches to GD targeted therapy were explored.MethodsThe siRNA targeting TSHR and the ICAM-1 mAb specifically binding ICAM-1 were designed and synthesized. Thirty GD model mice were randomly divided into siRNA treatment group, ICAM-1 mAb treatment group, and untreated GD group, with 10 mice in each group, and 10 ...