Endocrine Abstracts

Maternal programming increases the risk of alterations in the offspring’s HPA axis. Previously we showed that maternal undernutrition in sheep induces epigenetic changes in the glucocorticoid receptors (GR) within hypothalamic energy balance pathways, without affecting HPA axis GR. However, these studies focussed on fetal tissues1. Here, we investigated whether GR is epigenetically altered in the HPA axis of adult offspring to determine the status of the pathwa...

Introduction: This study explores the role of different fat depots in the aetiology of abnormal glucose homeostasis in childhood ALL survivors treated with BMT and TBI using detailed body composition assessments with MRI and DEXA scanning.Method: 52 (16–26 year old) childhood ALL survivors treated with (group 1, n=21, M=11) and without (group 2, n=31, M=13) BMT and TBI and 20 obese subjects (group 3, M=10) were inv...

Introduction: Measures commonly used to assess adiposity are often considered to reflect visceral adiposity and hence used as indicators of cardiovascular risk. This study compares common clinical adiposity measures with abdominal MRI, a direct measure of visceral fat, to assess if this relationship applies in patients with abnormal body composition.Method: Fifty childhood leukaemia survivors (16–26 years) treated with bone marrow transplantation/to...

There is increased prevalence of obesity and diabetes in offspring from mothers subjected to adverse conditions during pregnancy. Our previous work demonstrated that maternal undernutrition causes epigenetic changes in hypothalamic energy regulating networks in foetal sheep. We hypothesise that these changes will persist into adulthood. Therefore, this study examined the impact of maternal undernutrition on epigenetic and mRNA expression of hypothalamic regulators of energy ba...

Introduction: Survivors of childhood BMT/TBI have increased cardiovascular morbidity and GH deficiency (GHD). We aimed to investigate the relationship between cardiovascular risk and GHD and GHTx in BMT/TBI survivors.Methods: BMT/TBI survivors (n=36) and non-BMT control subjects (n=19) were sub-divided according to GH status assessed by insulin tolerance test: i) survivors with untreated GHD (N=18,11M), ii) survivors on GHTx (N</i...

Introduction: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at risk of vitamin D (VitD) deficiency because of chronic ill health and advice to limit sunlight exposure. Studies have demonstrated associations between VitD deficiency and cardiovascular disease. Some CCS has increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity, but data on VitD status are limited.Aim: To evaluate VitD status in CCS.Method: We compared VitD levels in CCS (n=83 (M=4...

Introduction: Data on the impact of TBI on the HPAA are limited. This study investigates the HPAA in BMT-survivors and non-BMT controls using overnight serum cortisol profiles and midnight/9am ACTH levels.Subjects (N=35): N=14, child (7), adult (7) controls, N=21 child (7), adult (14) BMT-survivors (TBI dose 12.0-14.4Gy). None had had treatment with corticosteroids in the last year.Method: Subjects rested for 3...

Introduction: Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) after cranial irradiation (CRI) is time, dose and fraction dependent. TBI (12–14.4Gy) involves low dose CRI, and skeletal irradiation causing further adverse growth effects. We present baseline data from a prospective study of GH treatment.Subjects N=25: We studied 13 BMT survivors (all had TBI, 3 also had CRI <18Gy), and 12 non-BMT subjects investigated for GHD. Both groups contained y...

Maternal undernutrition influences the development of obesity and diabetes in the adult offspring. Previous work has shown that moderate maternal undernutrition may alter the stress–response of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis; however, it is not clear if this is the mechanism for consequent obesity in offspring.The aim of this study was to analyse epigenetic changes in the POMC and GR genes in the pituitary as markers of HPA ...

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive neuroendocrine tumour that shows early metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy. Current biomarkers focus on prognosis and diagnosis but there is a need to find novel biomarkers, which could, for example, identify patients at risk of cerebral metastases.Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), the precursor of ACTH is a well-recognised biomarker of the ectopic ACTH syndrome1, of which SCLC is the most preval...