Endocrine Abstracts

We report the case of a 22-year old woman with aggressive Graves disease. She was initially found to be clinically and biochemically thyrotoxic in June-2001 when she presented with severe thyroid eye disease. Treatment was commenced with carbimazole but she failed to adequately comply with therapy and follow-up appointments. She fell pregnant whilst thyrotoxic and was converted to propylthiouracil (dose gradually increased due to poor response). She then left the area and had ...

AimAssessment of surgery efficacy in patients with MTC.MethodsWe used DNA extracted from 53 patients with MTC. All samples were subjected to PCR. Radio-immunological examination, serum CT measurement was performed by means of commercially available kit RIA DCL-1200. Basal calcitonin (CT) levels higher than 100 picograms per ml and the stimulated CT levels are accepted as pathological and typical of MTC.<p...

Pituitary radiotherapy (RT) causes hypopituitarism that is associated with a doubling in standardised mortality ratio. Other potential complications of pituitary RT are less clearly defined. Retrospective observational studies have estimated the risks of secondary intracranial tumour formation to be as high as 1-2% following conventional pituitary RT but these figures have been calculated against background normal population data. The majority of cases of intracranial tumors f...

It is common practice to attempt withdrawal of dopamine agonist (DA) therapy in patients with microprolactinomas who have achieved sustained normoprolactinaemia. There is, however little evidence to indicate which patients might attain long-term remission. The aim of this prospective study was to identify clinical factors that might predict such remission.We recruited 40 patients (39 females and 1 male, age 24-60 years) with a diagnosis of microprolactin...

Neurokinin B has been traditionally regarded as a neuropeptide being confined to the CNS, with no peripheral expression. This situation was the cause of some confusion as its preferred receptor (NK3R) is found mainly on peripheral organs such as the portal vein, mesenteric vessels and the heart with relatively low levels in the brain. In 2000 our laboratory reported the placenta to be an abundant peripheral endocrine source of NKB, giving rise to significant plasma concentrati...

Urinary steroid profiling by capillary gas chromatography is useful for identification of disordered steroid metabolism and, when 24h collections are made, for determination of steroid production rates. We have noted a substantial clinical demand for analysis of random collections, most commonly from children with precocious puberty and a general belief that relating steroid levels to creatinine would offset the disadvantage of a short collection. Given the known circadian var...

Aims:It is currently well known the pathogenic relationship between abdominal obesity(AO),impaired glucose tolerance(IGT)and insulin resistence(IR).We have proposed the studying of presence of a correlation between the obesity degree,established with the help of the body mass index(BMI)and of its type(indicated by the waist-hip ratio-(WHR)with a IGT frequency or of the non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus(NIDDM)and of the hyperinsulinemia(HI)in a bihor county population gro...

A 73 year old man presented in 1995 with impotence and a bitemporal field loss. Endocrine testing revealed hyperprolactinaemia (2741 mU/L) and hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. Pituitary imaging confirmed the presence of a macroadenoma with significant suprasellar extension. He underwent uncomplicated transsphenoidal surgery, which was successful in decompressing the optic chiasm. Histology revealed a pituitary adenoma that immunostained weakly for prolactin only. In 1998 routin...

Aim: To determine whether metformin has beneficial effects on hirsutism in patientswithout diabetes mellitus.Methods: This was a randomised placebo controlled double blind parallel study of six months Metformin (1500milligrams per day)/placebo. The primary outcomes were change in hair growth rate on hirsutography and by Ferriman-Galwey score. Secondary endpoints were changes in biochemical parameters related to androgens and ins...

Red deer (Cervus elaphus ) antlers annually undergo rapid de novo development of new bone, skin and hair follicles in the spring. Antler development, and a mane on the neck in the winter season, are secondary sexual characteristics of red deer stags. Although androgens are involved, where they actually act in the antler is unclear.Therefore, we have explored the expression pattern of the androgen receptor in the developing region of antler...