Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Hyperthyroidism is a significant medical condition in paediatric patients with serious health consequences. Optimal treatment remains debatable.Objective: To review 23 years’ experience of paediatric hyperthyroidism in the West of Scotland.Methods: Case notes of patients treated for thyrotoxicosis in Glasgow, Paisley, Ayrshire and Lanarkshire from 1987 until 2009 inclusive were retrospectively reviewed. Patients wi...

Thalassaemia patients are transfusion dependent and at risk of iron overload with end organ damage. Iron deposition is reduced by chelation treatment. We present the data on endocrinopathy and bone density in the adult patients under our care with thalassaemia. In addition, we will discuss therapeutic approaches to these problems including the use of newer chelation agents and possible reversal of endocrine end organ damage. We will also review the correlation in our patients ...

Ovarian cancer is the most fatal of all gynaecological malignancies. EOC accounts for >90% of malignant ovarian tumours and is thought to originate mostly from OSE cells. Epidemiological data suggest EOC is oestrogen responsive and we previously showed active oestrogen could be produced locally by EOC cells, but not by normal OSE cells, through the combined activities of steroid sulfatase (STS) and 17βhydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. We now investigate if EST, which conv...

The glucocorticoid hormone, cortisol, regulates fuel metabolism, inflammation and stress–responses. Its circulating concentrations are tightly controlled by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. However, 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (11βHSD1) generates additional cortisol in tissues, by reduction of inert cortisone. Using a tracer (9,11,12,12[2H]4-cortisol; d4-cortisol), the velocity of 11βHSD1 can be determined as t...

Background: The Endocrine Society clinical practice guidelines suggest use of the 1 mg overnight dexamethasone suppression test (ONDST) to screen for cortisol excess in patients with adrenal incidentalomas, followed by the 48-h, 2 mg/day, low-dose dexamethasone-suppression test (LDDST), to confirm a positive result. Visceral fat accumulates in cortisol-excess and accounts for increased cardiovascular risk. In this study, we investigate whether the LDDST offers additional infor...

The CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 genes encode 11β-hydroxylase and aldosterone synthase, which catalyse the production of cortisol and aldosterone, respectively, and have been implicated in the development of hypertension. For this study, we wished to investigate the role of microRNAs (miRNAs), a novel class of post-transcriptional gene regulators. To that end, we generated a profile of human adrenal miRNAs to study, and then investigated the action of one adrenal miR...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which affects 7% of the female population, is associated with established cardiovascular risk factors including obesity, dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance. Thrombus formation represents the final step in the atherothrombotic process and clot structure has been shown to predict the predisposition to cardiovascular events. The aim of the present work was to assess the effects of commonly used therapeutic agents on clot structure and fibrinoly...

A 37-year-old woman, 30 weeks pregnant, presented with palpitations and abdominal cramps. Ultrasound demonstrated a supra-renal abnormality and MRI showed a 10 cm heterogeneous left adrenal mass. For five years she had experienced episodes of palpitations, shaking, sweating and chest tightness. She was investigated by a neurologist and diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. During pregnancy the frequency of episodes increased. Lamotrigine was started, but at each dose increase...

The potential for primary tumour relapse is an important consideration during GH replacement therapy (GHR). We report 3 cases of relapse of intra cranial germ cell tumour (GCT) during GHR.Patient 1: An 11 year-old female presenting with visual loss and short stature due to a suprasellar malignant teratoma. She was successfully treated with bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatinum (BEP) and intrathecal chemotherapy. She suffered a first relapse two years late...

Objective: Insulin resistance (IR) has been reported in first-degree male relatives of patients with IC (FDMR). Retinol binding protein-4 (RBP4) has been shown to be increased in IR. We hypothesized that RBP4 would be: 1) increased in FDMR compared with controls and 2) correlated with features of IR.Methods: The study was approved by Leeds (West) Research Ethics Committee. We measured RBP4 in 162 healthy FDMR previously found to be more insulin resistant...