Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Estradiol is an important parameter in the evaluation of female fertility. Moreover, the measurement estradiol is essential in determining the right moment for oocyte retrieval in modified natural cycle IVF (MNC-IVF). Estradiol is measured by an immunochemical method and a change between immunoassays usually comes with a change in reference values due to differences in antibodies used and the lack of harmonization. In our hospital we changed in 2014 from the Auto...

Introduction: Improvement of health related quality of life (QoL) is one of the main goals defined by the WHO and besides reduction of mortality and morbidity an important objective for health outcomes. In chronic endocrine diseases, QoL often remains impaired despite cure or remission of the disease. In quantitative analyses, factors such as age, gender, BMI and depression, are associated with reduced QoL. However, aspects of social interaction and more complex individual con...

IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) are important biomarkers for diagnostics and treatment studies. In different physiological conditions IGFBPs are actively degraded by specific proteases. Due to the detection of intact and fragmented IGFBPs, ELISA or RIA techniques may generate biased IGFBP-data. We thus developed quantitative western ligand blotting for comprehensive monitoring of intact IGFBPs and IGFBP-profiles in biological fluids of vertebrates. The dynamic range for each IGF...

Background: Craniopharyngioma (CP) are the most common sellar tumors in children. Patients often develop excessive weight gain and obesity due to several factors as involvement or damage of the hypothalamus. Previous studies on the weight development in craniopharyngioma patients have shown an increase in weight before and in the first 10 years after diagnosis leading to an impaired quality of life. The long-term weight development in these patients has not been investigated t...

Background: SUB:Pituitary – Clinical (Generously supported by IPSEN)Hypothalamic involvement (HI) resulting in severe obesity is known to have major impact on quality of life in craniopharyngioma (CP) patients. HI is also associated with disturbances of satiety regulation leading to a failure to thrive and weight loss known as diencephalic syndrome (DS). The rate of DS and the outcome of CP patients with DS is unknown.Methods: CP patients h...

Aim: GH is used to treat short stature in children with GH deficiency (GHD), Turner syndrome (TS) and born small for gestational age (SGA). As GH is injected daily, treatment adherence may be problematic. To maximise adherence, improvements in injection devices have been targeted. This report compares intuitiveness and ease of use of two disposable GH devices: Norditropin NordiFlex (NF; Novo Nordisk A/S, Bagsværd, Denmark) and GoQuick (GQ, Pfizer, Inc., New York, USA).</p...

Background: Craniopharyngiomas are embryogenic malformations which lead to eating disorders and morbid obesity due to hypothalamic involvement. The experience with laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) in obese craniopharyngioma patients is limited especially in regard to long-term effects and tolerability.Patients and methods: We are reporting on four patients with childhood craniopharyngioma diagnosed at age 2, 13, 12, and 20 years.<p clas...

Background: There are now several lines of evidence indicating that a decrease in beta-cell mass, resulting from an increase in apoptosis, is a key feature in both type-1 (T1DM) and -2 diabetes (T2DM). Interestingly, recent studies suggest that the insulin receptor signalling cascade may play key functions in preventing beta-cells from undergoing apoptosis. However, the molecular basis underlying these events remains to be determined.Aims: this study exa...

Background: Cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2), the enzyme responsible for converting arachidonic acid to prostanoids such as PGE2, has been reported to play an anti-apoptotic role in invasive breast cancers. We have now examined whether COX-2 and PGE2 protect against apoptosis in the MIN6 insulin-secreting cell line.Methods: Serum-deprived MIN6 cells were exposed to an inhibitor of COX-2 (NS-398) and/or PGE2 for 48 hours and the ...

Background: Osteopetrosis is a rare chronic bone disease with high bone mineral densitiy due to impaired osteoclast activity or development. Genetic mutations result in severe infantile (autosomal recessive, incidence 1:200,000) and less severe adult forms (autosomal-dominant osteopetrosis/ADO). The incidence is estimated at 1:20,000 for noninfantile forms. In adults osteopetrosis is often asymptomatic with increased risk for bone fracture. Treatment is symptom-based (e.g. cal...