Endocrine Abstracts

The neuropeptide PACAP regulates numerous endocrine functions such as growth, metabolism and reproduction. In pituitary gonadotrophs, PACAP acts as a potent stimulator of gonadotrophin gene transcription and secretion, and potentiates the stimulatory effects of GnRH. We have examined the combinatorial effects of PACAP with GnRH or other activators of GnRH-signalling pathways in mouse αT3-1 gonadotroph and rat PC12 phaeochromocytoma cells. αT3-1 cells transiently tran...

Schizophrenia is associated with higher risk of Type 2 diabetes. There are several reports of Type 2 diabetes presenting as diabetic ketoacidosis, particularly in young obese African-Caribbean subjects. We report 3 cases of new onset diabetes presenting with diabetic ketoacidosis (see Table 1) in African-Caribbean males treated with olanzapine for chronic schizophrenia.Table 1 Metabolic parameters on admissionCase</td...

Background- The reduced survival in acromegaly is strongly related to high serum Growth hormone (GH) concentrations. This increased mortality is proportional to the GH excess on day curve data and hence reduction can improve mortalilty to normal levels. The threshold ofcure has changed over the last three decades and additional parameters have been introduced to assess disease activity.Aim- To compare GH measurement equivalence dur...

Cellular replacement therapy has already shown clinical efficacy in human patients with Parkinson's' and Huntington's diseases. However, this currently relies on a continuous supply of tissue from early first trimester human foetuses and therefore it will be difficult to translate into a widespread therapy. Neural stem cells are self-renewing cells found in both the developing and adult nervous system that can be expanded ex vivo in defined medium and differentiated into all t...

BACKGROUNDAngina and Myocardial infarction have been reported in hyperthyroidism. Intense coronary artery spasm can be life threatening as it can lead to ventricular fibrillation and haemodynamic instability as reported in this patient.CASE HISTORYA 45-year-old lady was admitted with a history of head aches, palpitations, diarrhoea and weight loss. She was subsequently found to have thyrotoxicosis with the th...

Acute critical illness has an effect on normal physiology resulting in changes in the inter-relations of the endocrine system.Evidence suggests that these changes may be due to the pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. interleukin-6 (IL-6)), which are known to have a paradoxical effect on the hypothalamo-pituitary axis, stimulating the adrenal axis, whilst suppressing the remaining axes.Multiple myeloma (MM) patients have elevated IL-6 ...

Human obesity is characterised by an increase in both the number of adipocytes and by an increase in their size, which is determined by adipogenesis. Adipogenesis can be induced in vitro in preadipocytes cultured in differentiation medium containing 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, insulin, dexamethasone, and triiodothyronine but the signalling pathways important in adipogenesis are not well characterised. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathway i...

Introduction: The National Growth Hormone (GH) audit was initiated in 2013 with funding from BSPED, to establish the ongoing trends in GH prescriptions in the UK and facilitate future long term follow up studies through a central database. Here we have studied the trends in GH prescribing and the indications for treatment from 2013 to 2015.Method: We examined data collected on a quarterly basis from centres across the UK on subjects less than 16 years of...

Background: Primary hyperparathyroidism is the commonest cause of hypercalcemia. Current guidelines advise to rule out familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FHH) when evaluating hypercalcemia. It is widely considered that FHH is associated with low urine calcium creatinine clearance ratio (CCCR). However, low CCCR can also occur in Primary hyperparathyroidism.Case: A 30 years lady presented with hypercalcemia and high parathyroid hormone (PTH). She had a...

Background: Hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) dysfunction is associated with serious morbidity and mortality. Its symptoms can be non-specific. Objective diagnosis depends on clinical suspicion and confirmed on assessment of early morning cortisol or dynamic assessment of cortisol secretion. The cosyntropin or short synacthen test (SST) has emerged as the most common test to assess the HPA. The insulin stimulation test (IST) is the traditional ‘gold standard’...