Endocrine Abstracts

Galanin-like peptide (GALP) is a novel peptide isolated from the porcine hypothalamus. Within the hypothalamus GALP mRNA is confined to the arcuate nucleus from which GALP immunoreactive fibres project to the medial preoptic area. Previous studies indicate that GALP may be regulated by leptin. Intracerebroventricular administration of GALP has been shown to stimulate luteinising hormone release. Low circulating levels of leptin lead to the down regulation of the hypothalamic-p...

Adult male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were given oral treatment of either Aroclor 1242 or vehicle (corn oil and glycerol) at a dose of 200 microgram/kg bw/day/animal for six months to investigate the effect of pollutant on plasma testosterone and morphology of testis and accessory glands. The animals used in this research have been treated humanely according to institutional guidelines, with due consideration to the alleviation of distress and discomfort. Aroclor 1242 tre...

The hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is essential component of the physiological stress response. Functional hypoadrenalism is a hypothetical contributor to mortality in the critically ill, though biochemical evidence for this is conflicting. Most studies have shown that 'high' random plasma cortisol in the first 24 hours of illness is associated with a high mortality. However, these data may be confounded by increased severity of illness in high mortality cohorts. Giv...

INTRODUCTION: Disturbance in thyroid function following larygectomy usually manifests as hypothyroidism. Hyperthyroidism is not well recognized. We present a case of transient hyperthyroidism caused by laryngectomy. CASE STUDY: A 58-year-old man underwent total laryngectomy for laryngeal carcinoma. The surgery was not complicated. 3days following surgery, the patient was noted to have sinus tachycardia with a rate between 100 and 110. On the 7th postoperative day thyroid funct...

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...

A gender-related bias in survival rates has been demonstrated in rodent models of critical illness. Sex steroids have differential effects on metabolic, immune and cardiovascular end points which may underlie these observations. The hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis response to critical illness in humans is poorly characterised. We have conducted a prospective study to characterise this response in the context of heterogeneous disease severity and disturbances in overal...

Cabergoline (CB) is a potent, long-acting dopamine agonist licensed for the treatment of hyperprolactinaemia and, although unlicensed, is extensively used to treat acromegaly. There is a dearth of data on the use of CB in the treatment of acromegaly. We have performed a retrospective analysis of CB therapy in 34 [19 male, mean age 46 years (range 14-82)22 macroadenomas] patients with acromegaly treated since 1975. The patients were divided into two groups, those on CB as sole ...

Cytotoxic chemotherapy is a well recognised cause of premature ovarian failure (POF). A proportion of women with biochemical evidence of POF following treatment recover ovarian function with a return of normal menses and fertility, but there are no indicators that allow the identification of this subgroup of patients. In addition, we have previously reported only minor reductions in BMD in a cohort of women with POF following cytotoxic chemotherapy and had postulated that this...

Maternal thyroxine (T4) deficiency is associated with adverse outcome for mother and infant such that selective screening has been advocated. Thyroid hormone production increases in pregnancy, T4-dependent patients requiring increased treatment. To highlight aspects of current service delivery and guide service development, we audited management of pregnant women requiring T4 in our city over one year.Cases were identified retrospectively through a data...

Adrenal cortical cells are continuously renewed in order to sustain production of relevant zonal steroids. Cell proliferation occurs at the periphery of the cortex where cells subsequently displace centripetally, switching phenotypically as they migrate though the gland and finally undergoing apoptosis at the medullary boundary. However, it is not known which mechanisms cause the cells to differentiate as they cross the zonal boundaries. A candidate group of genes involved in ...