Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Chronic Hepatitis C is highly prevalent in our country.Management involves combination treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Thyroid disease in affected patients can be caused by the hepatitis C virus or by the interferon therapy.Aims and method: The study aims to investigate thyroid dysfunction and optimal management strategies for patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with pegylated interferon and r...

Background: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) associates many psychiatric symptoms and is therefore important to find out if surgery can alleviates the psychiatric symptoms and improve the quality of patient’s life.Objectives: To study the nature and severity of neuropsychiatric manifestations in patients diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism before and after surgery, as well as to evaluate the correlation of such symptoms with levels of serum calcium...

Objective: To determine the impact of combined antidepressant drugs and LT4 enhancers in treatment of patients with Major Depressive Disorder.Method: We conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to determine whether LT4 supplementation had any augmentation effect on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The study involved 70 patients with major depressive disorder; patients with hypothyroidism were excluded. Of the participants, 38 were...

ACRD presents with clinical features of hyperandrogenism in females similar to those of PCOS (acne, hirsutism, oligomenorrhea, infertility), and precocious puberty in males. Obesity also occurs in some cases. Increased cortisol clearance leads to an increased hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis drive resulting in elevated serum androgen levels and a decreased urinary cortisol metabolite: cortisone metabolite ratio below 0.5 (normal adult range 0.7–1.3). These observations...

The metabolic syndrome, which encompasses features of obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and hypertension, has been associated with excessive glucocorticoid (GC) exposure. The pancreas is a target of the adverse affects of GC action, resulting in β-cell damage and reduced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) catalyses the in vivo conversion of inactive to active glucocorticoids (cortisone E/11-de...

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulphate ester DHEAS, have been shown to oppose the effects of glucocorticoids in vivo, thus producing beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity in rodent models of diabetes and obesity as well as in hypoadrenal patients. Glucocorticoids play a key role in regulating fat metabolism and distribution and are reactivated locally by 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) oxoreductase activity, which increases with ...

Glucocorticoids (GC) have potent actions upon human adipose tissue, promoting adipocyte differentiation, inhibiting preadipocyte proliferation and inducing lipolysis to generate free fatty acids (FFA) and glycerol through a putative action upon hormone sensitive lipase (HSL). FFA have been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, yet the molecular mechanisms that cause GC induced lipolysis are not clear. Recently, several novel lipases have been identifie...

Glucocorticoid (GC) excess is characterized by central obesity, insulin resistance and in some cases, type 2 diabetes mellitus. Whilst it is accepted that GCs cause insulin resistance, both insulin and GCs act synergistically to promote adipocyte differentiation. We have previously shown that GCs cause tissue specific changes in insulin sensitivity, enhancing insulin signalling in human adipose tissue in contrast to muscle.TRB3, a mammalian homolog of <i...

The vasoactive peptide adrenomedullin (ADM) has effects on several vascular beds including the cerebral circulation. The peptide has a positive impact on blood-brain-barrier (BBB) integrity, and transcription of ADM mRNA is enhanced by pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1 and TNF-alpha in neuronal cell types. The current study has investigated whether ADM may be a marker for disease progression, in vivo in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of the human disease...

We recently reported the impact of continous s.c. hydrocortisone infusion (CSHI) on weight, patient AddiQoL scores and healthcare cost savings on five patients. This poster is to follow up on all our patients experiences since started on the CSHI as well as qualitative feedback on the impact on their lives.This poster also gathered key points on how these patients managed their adrenal crisis....