Endocrine Abstracts

Ga-68 PSMA PET/CT is producing images with astounding tumour-to-background contrast for staging prostate cancer. Defining the extent of prostate cancer spread with imaging is of utmost importance for therapeutic decision-making. Relapse following curative-intent treatment is not uncommon despite careful selection of patients with CT, MRI and bone scintigraphy prior to surgery or radiotherapy, highlighting the limited sensitivity of conventional imaging. Imaging with PSMA-PET m...

GLP-1 is one of the two known incretin hormones (the other one being GIP), which have the ability to stimulate insulin secretion whenever glucose concentrations are above a certain permissive threshold. The incretin effect (greater stimulation of insulin secretory responses with oral as compared to matched intravenous glucose administration) is reduced in patients with type 2 diabetes, thus the question needed to be addressed, whether there is hyposecretion or impaired action ...

The relative risk associated with diabetes and obesity is significantly higher for different carcinomas including thyroid cancer. There is some evidence that insulin resistance and as a consequence hyperinsulinemia rather than hyperglycemia are responsible for the higher prevalence of cancer in diabetic and obese patients. In the thyroid insulin/IGF-depending signalling is part of the mitogenic pathways that regulate benign and malignant growth. In diabetics with hyperinsuline...

Most pituitary operations for Cushings’s disease are technically difficult procedures. Since the souce of excessive ACTH-secretion in Cushing’s disesase is almost invariably a pituitary microadenoma, selective resection of this minute tumor is considered the primary standard therapy. However, almost half of the tumors escape direct preoperative detection even by sophisticated magnetic resonance imaging. Thus, in these the indication for surgery is based on laboratory...

Gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) is a physiologically important incretin hormone secreted from K cell of the upper small intestine. Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is secreted from L cells in the lower small and large intestine. Both hormones are released after nutrient (especially carbohydrate and fat) ingestion and glucose-dependently augment insulin secretion. An involvement of either incretin hormone in the pathogenesis of diabetes may, in principle, be related to abno...

Acromegaly is associated with increased morbidity and premature mortality (predominantly due to vascular disease), but these effects can be reduced if GH levels are controlled (<2.5 µg/l) and IGF-1 levels are normalized. Confounding pituitary hormone deficiencies, particularly ACTH deficiency (with higher doses of hydrocortisone replacement) may have a detrimental effect on outcome in patients with pituitary disease. Pituitary radiotherapy is a further factor that has...

Circadian rhythms are cycles of behaviour and physiology that persist with a period of approximately (circa-) one day (-dian) when an individual is held in temporal isolation. They permeate all levels of biological activity, from gene expression and hormone secretion to cognitive ability. These daily rhythms are co-ordinated by a hypothalamic pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). Individual SCN neurons are competent circadian pacemakers, synchronised to solar time by re...

There is some evidence from different studies that (1) stem cells reside in thyroid tissue (as in all other tissues) for life-time of the organism, (2) stem cells and their progeny are under the control of niches that limit proliferation of these undifferentiated cells, (3) induction of apoptosis and (excessive) growth stimulation can overcome strict niche control, (4) under these conditions actively cycling, more or less differentiated progenitor may grow faster than the surr...

Healthspan is the period of life during which one enjoys good health. As people age, health is often compromised. Aging is a progressive process and changes of aging are multifactorial in origin. Growth hormone (GH) levels peak at midpuberty and thereafter decline progressively as people age. The number of GH pulses per 24 h does not change with age, but the pulse amplitude declines. The decline in GH secretion of aging is paralleled by a decline in muscle mass. This decline i...

The first barrier to overcome in engaging your audience is in writing an abstract that motivates delegates to attend your presentation; if abstracts don’t pass the ‘so what’ test, you’ll face an uphill battle. Once you have attracted an audience, ensure that they can follow your presentation and leave with a clear take home message. There are two common considerations in writing your abstract and planning your presentation. Firstly, make sure you focus on y...