Endocrine Abstracts

Acromegaly is usually regarded as a disease which occurs sporadically. Familial occurence of acromegaly due to pituitary adenoma without any other endocrinopathy in a family is extremely rare. These patients should be evaluated for multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1) and Carney complex. We report here two cases of acromegaly due to pituitary macroadenomas. Subject 1 is a 50-year-old woman and subject 2 is her 23-year-old son with elevated growth hormone (GH) levels dur...

The peptide hormone ACTH stimulates lipolysis and suppresses leptin production in adipocytes via the G-protein coupled seven transmembrane receptor, MC2-R. We have shown previously that PPARγ2 is the primary factor responsible for transactivation of the already identified murine MC2-R promoter in the differentiating 3T3-L1 adipocyte cell line. In this study we show that despite the activity of this promoter being transient during differentiation, MC2-R mRNA remains elevat...

Introduction and objective: This study aims to report if hormone therapy modifies sleep architecture and dreams in menopausal women. Women with no hormone therapy for flushes usually present sleep deprivation and daily sleepiness as a result of nocturnal arousals. Estrogen and progesterone brain receptors can influence memory and cognition processes. Dreams modulators are cognition, socio-cultural factors, personality and brain physiology (REM/NREM percents, circadian influenc...

Cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhea is a recognised complication of pituitary surgery, and occasionally occurs following pituitary radiotherapy. Macroprolactinomas (MPRL) may result in spontaneous or dopamine-agonist-induced CSF leaks, however no detailed large comparisons have been made with non-functioning adenomas (NFA). The incidence of this phenomenon and the mechanisms underlying it are not understood.We have performed a retrospective review of s...

Through its circadian pattern of melatonin (MT) secretion, the pineal gland helps to keep the internal physiology of animals in synchrony with the day-night cycle and with the annually changing seasons.Currently, however, the influence of MT on the human reproductive axis appears to be marginal and the available evidence supporting its physiological role is largely circumstantial; there is no clear consensus whether MT levels change during the menstrual ...

Objective: There is currently extensive debate regarding elevated TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) concentrations and associated cardiovascular risk. This study investigated whether correlations exists between TSH concentrations within the accepted range of normality and increasing cardiovascular risk.Design: We performed a cross-sectional study of 728 asymptomatic women aged 45–60 years attending for thyroid screening over a twelve month period. P...

T3 is essential for skeletal development and T3-actions in bone are mediated mainly by the nuclear receptor TRα1. We previously identified that FGFR1 is a T3-responsive gene in osteoblasts by subtraction hybridization. In mice that harbor a dominant negative mutation PV, FGFR1 mRNA expression is reduced in TRα1PV mutants that exhibit skeletal hypothyroidism and increased in TRβPV/PV mice with skeletal thyrotoxicosis. In this study, primary ...

Background: Rathke cleft cysts (RCC) are benign, epithelial-lined cystic lesions arising from remnants of Rathke's pouch. Although reported in 13-22% of normal autopsies, they are rarely symptomatic. Their outcome after surgery remains unclear.Aim: To analyse the clinical/laboratory features and treatment outcome of patients who presented to the Departments of Endocrinology and Neurosurgery with symptomatic RCC (histologically confirmed) between 1977-200...

BACKGROUND: Lymphocytic hypophysitis (LHy) is an uncommon inflammatory disorder of the pituitary with features mimicking those of sellar tumours, thereby often being misdiagnosed. However, no long-term follow-up studies have been published.OBJECT: To evaluate the clinical/radiological characteristics and the prognosis of patients with LHy.PATIENTS-METHODS: The records of the patients who presented to the Department of Endocrinology...

11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of human obesity and insulin resistance through 11-oxoreductase activation of cortisone (E) to cortisol (F) within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of adipocytes and hepatocytes. In its purified state 11beta-HSD1 is principally a dehydrogenase, converting F to E. Oxo-reductase activity can be regained by the addition of an NADPH regeneration system. In vivo hexose-6-phosphate ...