Endocrine Abstracts

Glucocorticoid hormones are used in the treatment of variety of diseases, due to their diverse range of effects. Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer, is one such disease treated by glucocorticoids (GCs). Although there has been much success in the treatment of ALL with GCs, drug resistance remains a problem, despite the detailed knowledge of the signalling networks underlying the GC actions through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Sys...

Introduction: Hyponatraemia is a relatively common complication following pituitary surgery. However, there is sparse data about its optimal management and impact on clinical outcomes.Aims: To review the treatment and patient outcomes of hyponatraemia following pituitary surgery.Methods: A retrospective single-centre study included all inpatients who developed serum sodium (sNa) ≤ 132 mmol/l following pituitary surgery f...

Background: In females transitioning to males (FtM) and in males transitioning to females (MtF), exogenous cross-sex steroids are prescribed to favour development of secondary characteristics of desired sex, while endogenous hormone production is inhibited.Aims and design: To study early impact of cross-sex steroids on body composition, metabolic profile and pro-inflammatory parameters in young transgender persons before and after 12 months of gender-aff...

Introduction: Cushing’s syndrome (CS) has been associated with low quality of life, even after biochemical cure. However little data is available on long term follow-up. The aim of the study was to analyse 10-year follow-up of quality of life (QoL) in patients in remission of CS.Methods: 24 patients in remission of CS followed in Hospital Sant Pau were included in this study (3 men, 21 pituitary origin, 3 adrenal; mean baseline age 45.1 ± 14.1...

Aberrant development of the pituitary gland can result in the clinical manifestation of hypopituitarism. The Wnt/β-catenin pathway has been shown to be involved in normal organogenesis, terminal differentiation and the aetiology of pituitary tumours. However, the specific developmental roles during hypothalamic–pituitary development of some of the Wnt/β-catenin effectors, such as Tcf3, have been hampered due to the early lethality of null embryos for th...

Introduction: Gender differences in insulin resistance, body composition and lipid profile are well known and related to sex steroid hormones. In this study, we examine the metabolic profile of transsexual persons undergoing drastic sex steroid changes, during the first year of hormonal therapy.Design: This research is part of a prospective intervention study conducted in several European gender teams (Ghent, Oslo, Amsterdam, and Florence).<p class="...

Objective: Testosterone levels are decreased in male obesity, the mechanism of which is incompletely understood. The aim of this study was to explore determinants affecting the feedback mechanism of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis in male obesity and type 2 diabetes (DM2), such as aromatase expression and lipotoxicity.Materials and methods: Circulating levels of testosterone were quantified (<1000 h with LC–MS/MS) in 37 middle-...

Background: Hypogonadism in men is associated with low muscle mass and force. Although, androgen replacement is an effective therapy, it can have undesirable side effects. Identifying the androgen regulated molecular mechanisms that increase muscle mass and function could lead to the identification of novel muscle-specific therapeutic targets to improve the clinical outcomes of muscle wasting diseases. In this study, we examined in mice the effects of orchidectomy (after 1, 7 ...

Background: Interindividual variation in thyroid hormone concentrations is greater than intraindividual variation, suggesting that individuals have different set-points for pituitary–thyroid axis function. Variation in thyroid hormone levels within the normal range has clinical effects and is associated with a number of clinical parameters such as bone mass, BMI, metabolic parameters, and heart rate. The aim of this study was therefore to gain a better insight into the de...

Adrenal masses discovered incidentally during imaging (adrenal incidentalomas) are common and constitute a common reason for referral in the Endocrinology clinic. Our aim was to audit the prevalence of adrenal masses discovered in all computerised tomography (CT) abdominal imaging done over one calendar month in our centre. A secondary aim was to identify the underlying diagnosis and fate of the discovered adrenal nodules. All 690 CT scans done in March 2011 in our centre that...