Endocrine Abstracts

Context: Hyponatraemia is the most common electrolyte balance disorder in clinical practice, amounting to 15–20% of casualty visits. While there is general agreement that associated mortality rates are high, most studies are uncontrolled.Objective: To determine the characteristics, causes and outcome of severe hyponatraemia (<125 mmol/l) in hospitalised patients and to indentify mortality predictors.Design: This is a retro...

The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) defined in 2018 ‘sarcopenia as muscle disease (muscle failure), with low muscle strength overtaking the role of low muscle mass as a principal determinant’; sarcopenia increases risk of falls and fractures, impairs ability to perform activities of daily living, leads to mobility disorders and low quality of life and death. The diagnosis is confirmed by low muscle quantity or quality. The muscle quanti...

Introduction: DIPNECH is a preinvasive condition in which there is an idiopathic generalised proliferation of pulmonary neuroendocrine cells that can form tumourlets. There are very few cases described of ACTH secretion by these cells causing Cushing’s syndrome, some of them cyclic.Case report: A 41 year-old woman was sent to our Endocrinology outpatient clinic for menstrual disturbance, acne and excessive sweating. She had a recent diagnosis of DIP...

Introduction: Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP) is a potentially life-threatening complication of hyperthyroidism that is underdiagnosed and frequently missed. It is relatively common in Asian men with Graves’ disease. TPP attacks are frequently associated with hypokalemia.Case presentation: We describe a 26-year-old Asian male with an unremarkable past medical history who was admitted following sudden onset of flaccid paralysis of the lower extre...

Introduction: Pheochromocytoma is one of the major secondary causes of hypertension. The classic triad of pheochromocytoma symptoms of headache, sweating and tachycardia is not present in a high percentage of patients and is sometimes diagnosed as incidentaloma or atypical presentations.Case report: The authors present a 56-year-old man, with no known diseases, referred to Endocrinology evaluation by incidentaloma of the right adrenal gland, from the Pne...

Objectives: To study the association of serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) polymorphism 5HTTVNTR and serotonin receptor 2A polymorphism 5HT2A_T102C with bone mineral density and metabolic parameters of bone remodelling.Materials and methods: BMD (g/cm2) was measured by DEXA in 105 post-menopausal women: 35 with normal BMD (age=58.30±1.33 years; BMI=28.18 [19.13-39.87] kg/m2) and 70 with osteoporosis (age=68.30±1.09 years; BMI=28.90 ...

Objectives: To study the association of Beta-2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) gene polymorphism Arg16Gly with bone mineral density and metabolic parameters of bone remodelling.Materials and methods: BMD (g/cm2) was measured by DEXA in 105 post-menopausal women: 35 with normal BMD (age=58.30±1.33 years; BMI=28.18 [19.13-39.87] kg/m2) and 70 with osteoporosis (age=68.30±1.09 years; BMI=28.90 [20.78-43.86] kg/m2). Met...

Introduction: Secondary causes of diabetes refer to a category in which diabetes is associated with other diseases. They are thought to constitute less than 2% of the total cases of diabetes.Case report: A 56 year-old caucasian man, with no relevant medical history, presented to the Emergency Department with fatigue, polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia and involuntary weight loss (6 kg in two weeks). He was hemodynamically stable and exhibited a glycaemia o...

Neuromedin B (NB) is a peptide highly expressed in adipose tissue (AT) but its function remains unclear. We showed that NB receptor (NB) knockout mice (NBR-KO) are resistant to diet-induced obesity compared to wild type (WT) and now we aimed to analyze NBR influence in adipocytes. Mesenchimal cells from perigonadal AT of WT and NBR-KO mice were isolated and maintained in growth medium (GM) as control group or in differentiation medium (DM) as induced group. After 2 weeks cells...

Objetive: To assess the clinical features of incidental clinically non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) and to analyze its natural history.Methods: A multicenter retrospective study in patients with NFPA followed-up from 1992 to 2015 was performed.Results: Fifty-seven patients were studied (29 women (50.9%); age 55.8±16.7 years. 43.9% were older than 60 years, 40.3% belonged to the age group of 40–60 years and 15.8% w...