Endocrine Abstracts

Techniques of analysis of urinary steroid metabolites evolved rapidly in the 1960 s from paper via thin layer and gas-liquid chromatography (GC) to GC-mass spectrometry. Formation of trimethylsilyl derivatives was a critical development for GC. This enabled all the major analytes to be identified and quantified in one run and the term ‘steroid profile’ for this first emerged in 1968. The use of capillary columns in place of packed columns, pioneered in the UK in th...

Women with PCOS show increased cardiovascular risk factors compared to weight matched controls with normal ovarian function. The evidence is broadly consistent for deranged lipids (in particular elevated triglyceride and low HDL-cholesterol) and greater glucose intolerance in women with PCOS. Evidence of hypertension is less consistent. There are also preliminary data now for altered haemostatic (t-PA antigen) and inflammatory (C-reactive protein concentrations) factors. All s...

There is increasing interest in insulin resistance as a candidate pathway in the pathogenesis of vascular disease. Part of this interest stems from the rapidly increasing rates of obesity worldwide which fuel insulin resistance particularly in susceptible 'at risk' individuals. Insulin resistance is associated with a plethora of metabolic perturbances (dyslipidaemia, hypertension, abnormal haemostasis, low grade inflammation, altered adipokine levels) and many of these abnorma...

Preventing obesity is an increasing focus for public health and social policy, but effective treatment for those who are already obese and those who will inevitably fail even the best preventative programmes is needed. The banality that both energy intake and expenditure can be modified by voluntary behaviour changes belies the observation that obese people have at not at losing weight but at maintaining weight loss. The objectives of obesity management to improve health statu...

Nancy Carrasco, Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA AbstractDr. Nancy Carrasco was born in Mexico City. She obtained her Medical Doctor and Masters in Biochemistry degrees from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Dr. Carrasco was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Kaback at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in New Jersey, U.S.A., wher...

Human embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent cells derived from in vitro fertilized human blastocysts. These cells are a unique scientific and medical resource as they could help us understand early human development, and serve as a source of cells for transplantation medicine. It is estimated that in the USA alone 3,000 patients die every day from diseases that are potentially treatable with embryonic stem cell-derived tissues. We show that in culture human ES cells...

AIM: to study the adequacy of surgery and detect MTC recurrences by means of serum calcitonin.METHODS: 30 patients with MTC were examined and followed-up for 5.5 years in the average. Radio-inmmunological examination, serum CT measurement was performed by means of commercially available kit RIA DCL-1200. Norm is up to 42picograms per ml.RESULTS: as the result of analysis of the surgery types MTC prognosis parameters, such as, tumor...

It is now accepted that the medical consequences of obesity require and justify effective medical strategies to be used alongside attempts at lifestyle modification. Evaluation of , and true clinical outcomes require trials of many years duration.At present drug treatment is limited. Two drugs have been approved by NICE after systematic reviews. Orlistat inhibits gastric and pancreatic lipases to produce 30% fat malabsorption. A number of trials for up t...

Beclere first described the use of pituitary radiotherapy in 1909. Despite this long history of use, there is debate surrounding its role in the modern management of patients with pituitary disease. Whilst treatment with conventionally fractionated external beam radiotherapy (RT) is used infrequently as primary therapy in patients with pituitary adenomas, it is commonly administered following non-curative pituitary surgery. In acromegaly, Cushing's disease/Nelson's syndrome, a...

Aim: To study microcirculatory disorders in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).Patients and methods: Eighty-five adolescents 12–17 years with T1DM were examined. The duration of T1DM was: <1 year – in 29 (HbAc1 7.1±0.4%) – group 1, from 1 to 5 years – in 26 (HbAc1 9.2±1.1%) – group 2, more then 5 years – in 30 patients (HbAc1 10.7±1.1%) – group 3. The indexes of tromboresistance of vesse...