Endocrine Abstracts

Searching for novel endocrine markers involved in gestational disease (e.g. pre-eclampsia, foetal growth restriction, pre-term labour) remains a challenge. Nonetheless, the placenta is a very useful target tissue as it provides a repository of gene expression transcripts that are uniquely expressed during pregnancy. Here, we have used bio-informatic approaches to identify expressed sequence tag (EST) clusters differentially expressed between 1st trimester and term placentae. T...

Background: Testicular tumours have been described in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and are usually associated with 21 hydroxylase deficiency, occasionally it has been reported in patients with 11 hydroxylase deficiency CAH. Poor compliance to adrenocorticotrohphic suppressive therapy can result in the development of testicular tumours which are due to adrenal rest tissue hyperplasia. This is usually benign but can be mistaken for malignant testicular tumo...

Prader-Willi syndrome is characterized by severe hypotonia and feeding difficulties in early infancy, followed in later infancy or early childhood by excessive eating and gradual development of morbid obesity and learning difficulties. Hypogonadism occurs in both males and females, manifested by genital hypoplasia, incomplete pubertal development, and infertility. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is common in obese individuals, most likely secondary to hyperphagia. Diabetes is often d...

A 38-year old lady from the Philippines presented with a 2-year history of a painless thyroid lump, without pressure symptoms. Over the previous year it had gradually enlarged in size. She gave a history of disturbed sleep, tremor, anxiety and weight loss over the 2-year period. Past medical history included right middle lobectomy for bronchiectasis 10 years previously. Thyroid function tests revealed TSH<0.05 mu/l, FT4 86 pmol/l, FT3 18.3 pmol/l and ...

Background: The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidelines in May 2002 on the use of GH in children, recommending GH in 4 conditions: GH deficiency (GHD), Turner Syndrome, Prader-Willi Syndrome and chronic renal insufficiency.Aim: To audit whether GH prescribing at our hospital adheres to NICE guidelines.Methods: A retrospective audit was performed of children commenced on GH treatment between May 2002 an...

Background: Patients attending our A+E department with hypoglycaemia have a number of samples collected including metabolic investigations, growth hormone (GH) and cortisol. Most of these children have an intercurrent illness. There is a paucity of published data examining how cortisol and GH respond to ‘physiological hypoglycaemia’.Aims: To assess if peak levels of GH and cortisol correlate with the degree of hypoglycaemia and to evaluate how ...

Aim: To explore parents’ views on what information should be given when a child is diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.Method: A questionnaire based, mixed quantitative and qualitative pilot study was conducted. All children diagnosed in the previous year were identified. A questionnaire which contained a list of topics recommended by NICE/ISPAD was developed. Parents were asked to complete this after their clinic appointment. They were asked to divide t...

Objective: We describe a patient who was dealt as a case of polycystic syndrome for about a decade before it was discovered that she was suffering from Cushing’s syndrome because of anterior pituitary adenoma. Our aim is to highlight the fact that even today PCOS ought to be a diagnosis of exclusion and it is vital to rule out other causes with similar features.Case report: Our patient is a 45 years old female who was levelled as a case of PCOS 10 y...

Objective: We present a 62-year-old male who had manifested with gynaecomastia to a surgeon. He was able to avoid mastectomy when it was found that his gynaecomastia was being caused by asymptomatic hyperthyroidism.Case report: A 62 years male presented to a surgeon with 6 months history of gradual enlargement of both of his breasts primarily for cosmetic reasons. The surgeon had planned bilateral mastectomies pending funding from the primary care trust....

The family of adrenergic receptors contains nine different subtypes of G protein-coupled receptors which mediate the biological effects of adrenaline and noradrenaline. With few exceptions, the full therapeutic potential of subtype-selective therapy has not yet been explored for the group of adrenergic receptors. In the absence of sufficiently subtype-selective ligands which can distinguish between individual receptor subtypes of the adrenergic family, gene-targeted mouse mode...