Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Acromegaly is commonly associated with numerous cardiovascular manifestations such as left ventricular hypertrophy, hypertension and ischemic heart disease. However, initial presentation with dilated cardiomyopathy is relatively rare. Dilated cardiomyopathy in patients with acromegaly usually result from an extended and excessive exposure of the myocardium to growth hormone.Case presentation: 51-year-old female with background medical histo...

Introduction: A woman’s iodine requirements increase substantially during pregnancy to ensure adequate supply to both mother and fetus. The deficiency of this element may cause several maternal-fetal repercussions. For this reason, iodine supplementation for pregnancy has been recommended and the World Health Organization (WHO) commends an iodine urinary concentration at a median UIC 150–249 μg/l. As in many other countries around the world, there is evidence of...

Background: Obesity is a public health problem, associated with several non-communicable diseases, lower psychosocial well-being and elevated risk of death. Managing obesity with Orlistat (a lipase inhibitor) has shown gastrointestinal side effects. Seaweed and its extract alginate, have shown lipase inhibition, which could help with weight loss. Therefore, adding alginate or seaweed into a cheese could decrease dietary lipids digestion and absorption and therefore reducing bo...

Introduction: Utilization rates of fertility preservation among transgender adolescents (TA) are low. Few studies have addressed the reproductive desires of this population. The aim of this study was to assess TA parenthood goals, attitudes about fertility preservation (FP) and perceived barriers to successful gamete banking.Methods: Transgender adolescents who attended the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS - endocrine clinic) between March and J...

Background: Osteoporosis and increased fracture risk associated with cystic fibrosis (CF) are becoming more relevant with improved life expectancy in this disease. The evolution of CF-related bone disease remains unclear.Aims: To evaluate change in bone mineral density (BMD) in individuals with CF from age 10 to 30 y.Methods: Data from the UK CF Trust registry, which contains anonymised clinical information, was used to evaluate BM...

Background: Fertility preservation (FP) amongst transgender adolescents (TA) is receiving more attention as individuals are transitioning at younger ages. Parents have a key role at exploring options for their children and are usually the ones responsible for consenting to interventions. Our aim was to explore parent’s attitudes regarding their offspring parenthood goals, FP counselling and perceived barriers to successful gamete banking.Methods: Pa...

Introduction: British Thyroid Association Guidelines state that the diagnosis of thyroid malignancy cannot be based on the results of an aspiration’s cytology alone and will usually require surgical removal for confirmation. There has been much debate about the management of indeterminate fine needle aspirations (Thy 3). Recent publications have reported that the prevalence of thyroid carcinoma following a Thy 3 result to be as high has 28%, emphasising the importance of ...

A key component of androgen synthesis is the availability of the pro-hormone DHEA, which is either converted to active androgens or inactivated to its sulfate ester DHEAS by DHEA sulfotransferase (SULT2A1). The latter reaction requires provision of the universal sulfate donor 3′-phosphoadenosine-5′-phosphosulfate, PAPS. In humans, PAPS is generated by the PAPS synthase isoforms PAPSS1 and PAPSS2. Recently, inactivating PAPSS2 mutations have been identified i...

Background: The insulin stress test (IST) is accepted as the gold standard investigation of the hypothalamio-pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA). The test has been shown to be reliable though potentially unpleasant for the patient and has been associated with complications such as loss of consciousness, seizures, arrythmias, angina, myocardial infarction and death. To this effect close medical supervision is always required when an IST is performed.Methods...

Cocaine and amphetamine regulated-transcript (CART) is highly expressed in the hypothalamus and was originally reported to be an endogenous satiety peptide. Intracerebroventricular injection of CART can result in motor abnormalities and recent studies have demonstrated increased food intake after intra-nuclear CART administration. To help clarify the situation CART was over-expressed in the hypothalamus using recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV-CART). Recombinant adeno-as...