Endocrine Abstracts

IntroductionWorldwide, 100 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI) are assumed, on the basis of expert opinion, to be at higher risk of infection.AimTo determine the patient reported incidence and potential risk factors of infection with COVID-19, for patients diagnosed with AI.MethodA 42 item questionnaire (inclu...

Environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are exogenous chemicals that perturb hormones and their actions. In our laboratory, we are studying how early life exposures to EDCs affect the developing brain and lead to behavioral dysfunctions in exposed individuals and their descendants across generations. To do this, pregnant rats are fed one of three treatments: the weakly estrogenic commercial polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture, Aroclor 1221 (A1221, 1 mg/kg); vinc...

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...

We present the case of a 77-year-old woman with a medical history of diabetes mellitus type 2 and hypothyroidism who was admitted to hospital after having had episodes of recurrent symptomatic hypoglycaemia. The patient had diabetes mellitus type 2 for 26 years and this had gone into remission over the previous 2 years: she had been having recurrent hypoglycaemia necessitating reduction in insulin doses and then subsequent discontinuation of therapy altogether. There was a his...

Introduction: Patients with Addison’s disease are burdened by substantial comorbidity and likely require a large package of care. There is a proportion of South African patients who can afford private health-care, comparable to health-care offered in a developed country. We hypothesised that comprehensive package of care costs for Addison’s disease is relatively high.Methods: We identifed 131 patients with Addison’s disease within a privat...

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...

Introduction: Male hypogonadism may complicate Addison’s disease (AD), but the prevalence of testosterone deficiency in adult males with primary hypoadrenalism is unknown.Methods: Male patients older than 18 years of age enrolled in the South African AD national registry were screened for biochemical testosterone deficiency (early morning basal testosterone <9.9 nmol/l). Testing was also performed to see if these subjects were more susceptible t...

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...