Endocrine Abstracts

Richard JM Ross, Professor of Endocrinology, Faculty Academic Lead for Innovation and Head of Unit Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism, University of Sheffield, UK AbstractRichard Ross trained in Medicine at The Royal London Hospital (1974–1979) and in Endocrinology at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London (1983–1988). He was appointed to Sheffield University in 1995 and is Professor of Endocrinology and He...

Background: Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is a peptide hormone consisting of 84 amino acids with residues 1–34 responsible for its biological activity. Hypoparathyroidism is a rare, complex condition with a patient predisposition toward impaired mineral homeostasis. Replacement with Natpara (PTH 1-84) requires daily injections and is still complicated by fluctuating calcium levels. An unmet need exists for a long-acting treatment that is effective. It is hypothesised that a P...

Background: Androgens promote erythropoiesis and have been used for the treatment of anaemia. Furthermore, polycythemia is a known side effect of androgen therapy. In congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), elevated adrenal androgens cause virilisation of female patients. Glucocorticoid treatment reduces androgen levels but there is a difficult balance between excess androgens and suppressed androgens due to excess glucocorticoid treatment.Aim of study: To...

Rationale: Over the last 20 years, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) has become a recognized therapy in the treatment of patients suffering from neutropenia. Current therapies require daily injections of GCSF to stimulate stem cell production and response to treatment is often unpredictable as GCSF is rapidly cleared. A number of approaches to reducing GCSF clearance have been tried mainly through conjugation with another moiety. The technologies already being emplo...

Langerhan cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare; incidence 1.8/100 000. It affects bone, skin, and pituitary but can involve any organ. Diabetes insipidus (DI) is reported in 15–50% of patients, and anterior pituitary dysfunction in 5–20%. We describe a patient whose diagnosis was delayed because of the challenge in making a tissue diagnosis.A 42-year-old female presented in 2010 with sudden onset deafness and vertigo then 1 year later developed D...

A 60-year-old woman was referred with a 14 mm right adrenal mass on a contrast CT abdomen whilst being investigated for left iliac fossa pain and increased bowel frequency. She reported a 2-year history of anxiety attacks, poor sleep, excessive sweating and weight loss. She had hypertension, asthma and recurrent vasovagal syncope and had previously undergone an open cholecystectomy. Her medications included Lansoprazole, Salbutamol, Losartan, Citalopram and Diltiazem. Systemic...

We report two cases of hypernatraemia with reset osmostat and pituitary dysfunction.A 35-year-old male was referred with Graves’ thyrotoxicosis associated with hypokalaemic periodic paralysis and an incidental serum sodium 154 mmol/l. He complained of polyuria and nocturia but denied excessive thirst and was otherwise well. Height was 193 cm with BMI 29.5. He had gynaecomastia and sparse body hair. He had a small 6 ml right testicle (originally und...

Hypoparathyroidism causes severe hypocalcaemia and defective skeletal metabolism. Treatment with calcium and vitamin D supplementation can cause kidney failure whilst native parathyroid hormone (PTH) requires repeated injections and causes renal impairment paralleling high peak and low trough PTH levels. A long-acting PTH, providing constant physiological levels, is needed. LA-PTH, a hybrid of PTH and PTH related peptide, prolongs cAMP responses via altered receptor mechanisms...

Introduction: Leptin is a 16-kDa peptide hormone secreted by adipose tissue and acts as a sensor for energy stores. It feedsback at the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus to suppress appetite. Leptin treatment has been highly effective in suppressing appetite in the rare cases of leptin-deficient obesity and improving the metabolic profile in congenital generalised lipodystrophy. These patients require 2.5–10 mg once daily recombinant leptin treatment. We hypothesised that prol...

Background: The UK acromegaly register reported that <60% of acromegalics on medical therapy had controlled disease (1). Pegvisomant, a growth hormone antagonist (GHA), controls disease in >95% cases, but is not cost-effective and requires high dose daily injections (2). We have developed a fusion technology for making a cost-effective long-acting GH molecule (3), and generated a GHA by linking mutated growth hormone to its binding protein (GHBP).<p class="abstext"...