Endocrine Abstracts

M Sheppard, University of Birmingham, UK AbstractProfessor Michael Sheppard was appointed as Provost and Vice-Principal of the University of Birmingham on 1 October 2008. The Provost has responsibilities for financial and human resources and the development and delivery of the University strategic plan with special responsibility for the University's external and international relations.Profess...

Pituitary adenomas are commonly occurring lesions, only some of which will result in clinically significant disease. The underlying molecular changes leading to monoclonal cell proliferation with self-limited growth in the majority of cases, and continuous growth in a small proportion, are currently unknown. While hormonal influences are clearly important additional factors, the primary abnormality will ultimately lead to up-regulation of the cell cycle machinery. Hormonal fee...

Pancreatic beta cell dysfunction is central to the development and progression of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Lipotoxicity, i.e. chronic exposure to elevated levels of free fatty acids (FFAs), contributes to beta cell dysfunction and death in T2D.The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the organelle where secreted proteins, such as insulin, are produced and folded. Demands placed on the beta cell ER vary greatly with glucose-stimulated insulin production. ER stress...

Unilateral laparoscopic adrenalectomy for unilateral primary aldosteronism (PA) results in cure of hypertension in 50–60% and improvement in all remaining patients. For those with bilateral PA or with unilateral PA but unsuitable for surgery, treatment with mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) blockers (spironolactone 12.5–50 mg/day or eplerenone 25–100 mg/day) or with sodium channel antagonists (amiloride 2.5–20 mg/day) is effective, but regular biochemical mon...

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) represent a rare and diverse group of tumors with predominant location in the gastro-entero-pancreatic and bronchopulmonary system. At initial diagnosis 50% of the patients present with metastatic disease whereas more than 80% develop metastases in the course of the disease with liver metastases as the most frequent ones. In consideration of the variable and sometimes indolent tumor growth behaviour, risk stratification is an important need for the...

Radiotherapy of brain tumours given to children and adults is connected with various hormonal dysfunctions later in the life. There are anterior pituitary hormones deficiencies, hyperprolactinemia and precocious puberty. Their severity and frequency depends on the dose applied, age of the radiotherapy and time after radiotherapy. In children, the most important is early recognition of them, with growth hormone deficiency as most common. The impact of cranial irradiation on gon...

Central vasopressin facilitates social recognition and modulates numerous complex social behaviours in mammals, including parental behaviour, aggression, affiliation and pair-bonding. In rodents, social interactions are primarily mediated by the exchange of olfactory information, and there is evidence that vasopressin signalling is important in brain areas where olfactory information is processed. We recently discovered that the rat olfactory bulb (OB)1 and the ante...

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy and most of the therapeutic strategies are not yet prospectively validated. However, several studies have been published in 2010 and preliminary results from two prospective trials are available now.Open adrenalectomy is treatment of choice for resectable tumors. However, two recent retrospective studies provided evidence that a laparoscopic approach might be also a safe alternative in selected cases (e...

It is now widely recognized that primary aldosteronism (PA) is much more common than previously thought, accounting for up to 5–10% of hypertensives with most patients normokalemic, and that aldosterone excess has adverse cardiovascular consequences that go above and beyond hypertension development. These findings have supported the concept that PA plays an important role in cardiovascular disease states and should be systematically sought and specifically treated. In rec...

The study of the genetics of diabetes, in its different forms, has produced a huge amount of data only very recently and new information is becoming available as this text is being written. The question, at this time, is: are they any good to our patients?As the study of the genetics of a disease progresses, one would expect several clinical applications, the most obvious being improved prediction and diagnosis, as well as tailored treatment of the disea...