Endocrine Abstracts

A 30-year-old Caucasian lady was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in July 2005 on an oral glucose tolerance test and was treated with metformin. Sixteen months later she presented with urinary symptoms and was noted to have 2+ ketonuria. Her blood glucose was 13.4 mmol/l. Her BMI was 26 kg/m2 and she was noted to have Cushingoid habitus and acanthosis nigricans. Her blood pressure was normal. Her serum sodium was 130 mmol/l, potassium 3.7 mmol/l and bicarbonate 8 mmol...

Background: Fasting is associated with suppression of IGF-I production, which is likely to be the stimulator of GH secretion and the subsequent increase in lipolysis. The GH signalling events subserving this switch in the actions of GH have not been studied.Aim: To assess whole body substrate metabolism and GH signalling proteins in skeletal muscle and fat in healthy human subjects in the postabsorptive state and after 38 h of fasting.<p class="abste...

Objectives: The audit was carried out to inform the development of a local protocol for investigation of patients with suspected sporadic phaeochromocytoma.Method: Details of all UCAT tests performed in 2006 for a catchment area of approximately 500 000 were obtained.Questionnaires were used to obtain further information about all the patients referred from primary care and secondary care patients with UCAT > upper limit of nor...

Background: Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) are currently used to assess obesity. BMI and WC do not take into account fat/muscle distribution or allow for distinctions between gender, age or ethnicity. WC reflects abdominal fat distribution more accurately, but is operator-dependant and variable in terms of reproducibility. BVI is a totally new, reproducible and novel concept using a 3D body scanner and appropriate software, to measure total body and 8 body ...

Introduction: The aetiology of obesity-related nephropathy (ORN) is uncertain but may involve hyperfiltration and systemic inflammation.Aims: To define ORN using novel urinary biomarkers that can identify damage to specific regions of the nephron.Methods: Clinical data, blood and urine samples were collected from a consecutive series of 22 patients attending a weight-management clinic (excluding those with diabetes), and from a con...

The von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome is an inherited multi-tumor disorder characterized by clinical heterogeneity and high penetrance. Pheochromocytoma (Pheo) is present in 10-15% of cases. It can be isolated or associated with other lesions such as hemangioblastomas, kidney cysts or cancer, and pancreatic lesions. Pheos secrete norepinephrine and are generally located in the adrenals. While performing genetic testing in patients affected by apparently sporadic pheos or PGLs, ...

Type 1B pseudohypoparathyroidism is characterised by renal resistance to parathyroid hormone in the absence of other endocrine or physical abnormalities. We present a 36-year-old lady with pseudohypoparathyroidism diagnosed aged seven following seizures with hypocalcaemia, hyperphosphataemia, elevated alkaline phosphatase, elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) at 700 pg/mL (<120) and no cyclic AMP response to bovine PTH. There was no family history or diagnostic phenotypic fe...

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder, affecting 5–10% of women of reproductive age. The underlying pathogenesis is complex and incompletely understood. There is evidence that gonadotropin and gonadotropin receptor action play a role in the pathogenesis of PCOS with genome wide association studies in PCOS also implicating altered gonadotropin action in the aetiology of PCOS. Furthermore, our recent studies have demonstrated that gonad...

The luteinising hormone/chorionic gonadotropin receptor (LHCGR) plays an essential role in ovarian follicular function, mediating the action of LH on theca cell steroidogenesis and, in the preovulatory follicle, on granulosa cell (GC) steroid production and the ovulatory cascade. Following ovulation, LH (and CG) are responsible for maintenance and function of the corpus luteum. Arrested antral follicle development in PCOS is characterised by premature responsiveness of GCs to ...

IntroductionWomen with PCOS frequently exhibit impaired insulin sensitivity. Low-grade chronic inflammation has been associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. DPP4, also known as CD26 (T-cell activation antigen CD26) is a prolin-specific serin-exopeptidase. With its binding partner ADA (Adenosine Deaminase complexing Protein) it cleaves numerous chemokines, mitogens, neuropeptides and peptide hormones and thereby influences metabolism, immu...