Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The insulin stress test (IST) is accepted as the gold standard investigation of the hypothalamio-pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA). The test has been shown to be reliable though potentially unpleasant for the patient and has been associated with complications such as loss of consciousness, seizures, arrythmias, angina, myocardial infarction and death. To this effect close medical supervision is always required when an IST is performed.Methods...

Background: Absorption of levothyroxine is significantly reduced in the presence of oral iron if these two medications are ingested simultaneously, possible as a result of the formation of an insoluble complex with these 2 medications. Ideally all hypothyroid pregnant women on thyroid replacement therapy should be advised to avoid simultaneous ingestion of levothyroxine and iron containing medicines.Patients and methods: We conducted a retrospective obse...

Background: Thyroid hormone is essential in foetal neurological development and thyroid hormone deficiency in pregnant women has been linked to lower intelligence quotient and underperformance in their children later in life. Thyroid hormone requirement increases during pregnancy by approximately 50% in the first trimester. We audited our practice of increasing thyroid hormone dose at booking and thereafter in pregnant women attending our combined obstetric medical clinic....

Context: Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS1) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the autoimmune regulator gene. Hypoparathyroidism occurs in 80% of patients with APS1 and has been suggested to result from an autoimmune reaction against the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) on parathyroid cells. Previously, we have detected CaSR-binding antibodies in patients with APS1 using immunoprecipitation and flow cytometry assays.Obj...

Introduction: Neonatal events may contribute to the development of disorders such as type 2 diabetes and obesity at adult age. We have previously shown that neonatal testosterone (T) programming of female rats is followed by insulin resistance and changes in adipose tissue distribution with centralization of body fat. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of neonatal injection of T, estradiol (E) or dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on insulin sensitivity and siz...

The family of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are amongst the best-described regulators of cardiovascular pathophysiology. In rodents, intracerebroventricular administration of orexins increases mean arterial pressure and heart rate. However, important peripheral actions of orexins and their cognate receptors is now increasingly of interest.In this study we demonstrated that both receptors are present across the rat heart, at mRNA and protein level. ...

We report two patients (AB 41 years, LS 55 years) presenting with symptoms of hyperprolactinaemia. Prolactin levels were moderately elevated: 1539 (AB), 1186 (LS) (NR 59-619 mU/L). The remainder of the pituitary profile was normal. Neither patient had visual field defects. MRIs (without contrast) reported pituitary macroadenoma with suprasellar extension but no optic chiasm compression. The initial diagnosis was of probable non-functioning adenoma causing stalk compression. Bo...

Background: HNF1β mutations are one of the commonly identified genetic causes of renal malformations, but one of the less common forms of MODY. HNF1β is involved in the development of kidneys, liver, pancreas, intestine and urogenital tract. Patients can present with distinctive but highly variable clinical features. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical, biochemical and radiological variability of HNF1β variants and the challenge of management on th...

IntroductionGlucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, results from previous studies on the GLP-1 secretory responses in individuals with different glucose tolerance states remain controversial. This may be contributed by the heterogeneous characteristics of the patients recruited.AimTo examine whether GLP-1 secretion is affected...

IntroductionGlucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Results from some studies on post-OGTT GLP-1 responses involving East Asians with abnormal glucose tolerance states tend to differ from the West. This may be attributed to the different diabetic phenotypes found in East Asians.AimTo examine post-OGTT GLP-1 responses in subjects with n...