Endocrine Abstracts

ObjectivesTo compare our practice, at Sunderland Royal Hospital, to the recommendations of NIH Consensus Development Programme (February 2002) and BAES.MethodRetrospective audit of patients who had adrenal mass on imaging studies done between 1996–2004.Patients who had incidentally detected adrenal mass were included. Patients with symptoms and / or signs suggesting adrenal mass pr...

Glucocorticoids (Gcs) act through the ubiquitously expressed glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Transcriptional activation by the GR involves interaction with co-modulator proteins, the expression level of which can mediate Gc sensitivity. The aim of this study was to identify additional GR interacting proteins that may influence Gc sensitivity.Using a yeast two-hybrid screen we identified a novel GR interacting protein, R59, which showed an enhanced interact...

Aim: To investigate glucocorticoid (Gc) regulation of MIFBackground: MIF is a potent proinflammatory cytokine involved in inflammatory arthritis. Previous work suggested that MIF was induced by low concentrations of Gc, and may counteract their anti-inflammatory effect. The relationship between MIF and Gc has not been investigated in human cells.Methods: The human cell lines CEMC7A (T-lymphoblast) and A549 (lung epithelial) were us...

Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) splicing may influence glucocorticoid sensitivity. We aimed to identify GR isoforms in the lung by using immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting, co-immunoprecipitation western and RT-PCR approaches.The distribution of GR protein in rat lung was different when we used an N terminal antibody (M20) compared to a C terminal antibody (GRalpha). M20 detected diffuse expression in all cell types and higher expression in the epithelium. In contrast GRalp...

Case ReportA 36 year old Asian female presented to the Accident and Emergency with a sudden collapse.On examination, the patient was pyrexial at 38.3 degC and had a Glasgow Coma Scale of 4 associated with nuchal rigidity. The patient was ventilated and transferred to ITU. An MRI head scan revealed a large ring enhancing lesion in the hypothalamus which extended to the third ventricle. There was also diffuse lepto-meningeal enhancement with hydrocephalus....

Turner's syndrome (TS) is the commonest sex chromosome abnormality in females. It is associated with impaired glucose tolerance and hepatic dysfunction. However a medline search for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and TS shows only one previously reported case (Spanish literature).A 36 year old patient was referred to the diabetes center with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes on gliclazide 80 mgs daily (HbA1C 11.2%) and elevated alkaline phosphatase (AKP...

Background: Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (LpPLA2) is known as an emerging marker of coronary artery disease (CAD). However its role and levels have not been documented clearly in diabetic patients with CAD in Indians. The aim of this study was to explore the association of LpplA2 levels between diabetic and non-diabetic patients with CAD and compare it with other established markers like hs-CRP.Methods: Sixty individuals with angiographically ...

One in five people in the UK is affected by lung disease, along with millions more worldwide. Glucocorticoids represent the most utilized anti-inflammatory therapy for the treatment of pulmonary inflammation, however a subset of patients exist which do not respond to therapeutically relevant doses.The non-ciliated bronchial epithelial (Clara) cells have been identified as key mediators of the pulmonary inflammatory response. The glucocorticoid receptor (...

Introduction: Malignant struma ovarii is a rare disease, for which risk factors and prognostic features are not well-defined. We present a patient with concomitant Graves’ disease and metastatic follicular thyroid cancer arising from struma ovarii, and discuss the possible mechanism of this association.Clinical case: A 43 year old woman undergoing follow-up for Graves’ disease (GD) presented with an enlarging left lower abdominal mass. She ha...

Retinopathy has been observed in around 25% of patients with type one and type two diabetes for 3–5 years. Diabetic retinopathy can cause poor vision and even blindness since high glucose has been evidenced to weaken retinal capillary leading to leakage of blood into the surrounding space. Therefore, the prevention, diagnosis and therapy of diabetes retinopathy are very important in diabetes patients. Here, we adopted a proteomics-based approach using 2D-DIGE and MALDI-TO...