Endocrine Abstracts

Expansion of the orbital contents, by adipogenesis and hyaluronan (HA) overproduction, causes Graves orbitopathy (GO). Orbital HA is generated predominantly by hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2) whose transcription is positively regulated by pAkt in cell lines. GO is most frequently associated with Graves’ disease (GD) in which thyroid stimulating antibodies bind the TSH receptor (TSHR) increasing cAMP. Previous studies highlight a role for TSAB and ‘neutral’ TSHR ant...

Obesity (excess adipose tissue generated by hypertrophy and hyperplasia) predisposes to poor health. Adipogenesis (hyperplasia) involves the differentiation of adherent preadipocytes into non-adherent adipocytes and is accompanied by alterations to the extracellular matrix of which hyaluronan (HA) is a component. Used in vitro to promote lineage specific differentiation, little is known of HA’s role in adipogenesis. We hypothesise that HA modifications must occur d...

Introduction: There is increasing evidence suggesting that adiponectin plays a role in the regulation of bone metabolism. We have studied the changes in the circulating concentration of adiponectin in lean and obese post-menopausal women with and without osteoporosis and its association with a marker of bone formation – type 1 procollagen amino-terminal pro-peptide (P1NP) and a marker of bone resorption – type 1 collagen C-telopeptide (βCTX).<p class="abstex...

Background: PCOS is a metabolic disorder associated with long-term health risks including insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and dyslipidaemia. Metformin improves insulin sensitivity in PCOS and reduces circulating concentrations of markers of endothelial dysfunction, although it is unclear whether this translates into improvements in vascular function.Objective: To determine whether metformin therapy improves arterial stiffness and endothelial function...

Background: Patients with Addison’s disease (AD) and hypopituitarism have increased mortality, mainly from vascular disease. Both diseases are characterised by DHEA(S) deficiency yet this is not usually corrected. It is unclear whether treatment of these conditions with DHEA improves vascular risk.Objective: To evaluate the effects of DHEA on arterial stiffness and endothelial function in subjects with AD and hypopituitarism.M...

Hyperthyroidism in Graves’ disease is due to TSH receptor (TSHR) autoantibodies (TRAb) directed against the TSH binding pocket. Detection of TRAb in clinical rou-tine is performed by 2nd gen assays using human or porcine TSHR. Such TSH bin- ding inhibition immunoglobulin (TBII) assays determine the ability of TRAb to inhi- bit the binding of labelled TSH to immobilized TSHR. TRAb are present in low con- centrations and mostly recognize conformational epitopes. The conform...

A 78-year-old female presented with acute onset of severe headache and vomiting. Sub arachnoid haemorrhage was suspected but a CT brain scan was ‘normal’ and CSF bilirubin absent.Three months later she complained of lethargy and a thyroid function test suggested secondary hypothyroidism. Further investigations confirmed partial hypopituitarism (growth hormone preserved) and review of the previous CT scan suggested the presence of a pituitary ma...

A 67 year old female presented with hypertension, oedema and cough. A CT scan of her abdomen showed an enlarged left adrenal gland. Urinary free cortisols were grossly elevated and low dose dexamethasone suppression testing confirmed Cushing’s Syndrome. 24 hour catecholamines were also elevated consistent with a diagnosis of phaeochromocytoma. ACTH levels were high (690 pg/ml) but pituitary MRI was normal. She was commenced on alpha and beta blockade in preparation for su...

Background: Women with epilepsy may be at risk of developing PCOS, but it is unclear whether this is due to the disease or sodium valproate (VPA) therapy. We sought to determine androgenic status and cardiometabolic risk in women taking VPA monotherapy and compared these with subjects taking lamotrigine and healthy controls.Methods: Patients with epilepsy (age 18–43) with no known vascular risk were divided into 3 groups: VPA monotherapy (n=1...

Folliculostellate (FS) cells within the anterior pituitary gland produce cytokines and growth factors which are regulated by molecules produced by neighbouring endocrine cells. There are many factors that could potentially be responsible for this intercellular communication that is mediated via connexins (Cx) and gap-junctions. We thus investigated the effect of co-culturing lactotrophs (MMQ) and FS cells (TtT/GF) on Cx43 expression. Our in vitro model system consists o...