Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Optimal glucocorticoid (GC) replacement in patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI) is desirable for the prevention of long-term side effects of GC. Both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia are the risk of atherosclerosis. For the determination of optimal GC replacement method in patients with AI, we tested a utility of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM).Subjects and methods: Three patients with primary or secondary AI were examined. Case 1, 50...

Introduction: Primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease (PPNAD) is a rare cause of Cushing’s syndrome. Total bilateral adrenalectomy is mostly chosen for treatment because pathological changes usually grow out in both adrenal glands among PPNAD cases. Meanwhile total adrenalectomy may result in life-threatening acute adrenal insufficiency. In this report, two PPNAD patients were examined to check the laterality of hormone secretion from both glands by adrenal venou...

Adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy, especially in children, and the annual worldwide incidence has been calculated as 0.3 cases per million children younger than 15 years old. We present a case of functioning ACC in a 7 years-old female child who manifested with virilization. She presented with low-pitched voice, excessive pubic hair growth, growth acceleration, clitoral enlargement and increased muscle strength at the age of six. Her blood pressure was norm...

Objective: Cathepsin L can control adipogenesis and relate to acute coronary syndrome. However, it is not clear whether cathepsin L can be affected by saturated fatty acid and decrease by curcumin. We examined the hypothesis that palmitate upregulates cathepsin L expression in adipose tissue and curcumin can be block that effect.Methods: 3T3-L1 cells were fully differentiated for 8 to 10 days and treated with palmitate, LPS, IL6, TNF-α, IL6 neutrali...

Visfatin is a newly discovered adipocyte hormone. Recent studies showed a possible relationship between diabetes mellitus and visfatin level. But the effect of visfatin on the insulin resistance was not well understood. The aim of the present study was to explore the relation of visfatin with insulin resistance in patients with prediabetes and diabetes.We included a total of 128 persons in the study and of these 128 persons, 36 were diabetic, 69 were pre...

The Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 5A member, Steroidogenic Factor 1 (SF-1, Ad4BP, NR5A1), is critical for steroidogenesis, stress responses, sexual differentiation and body weight regulation in mice. Patients with rare mutations in SF-1 have confirmed its role in male sexual differentiation and adrenal response to physiological stress in humans. In contrast, Liver Receptor Homologue 1 (LRH-1, FTF, CPF, NR5A2) is involved in endoderm development, bile acid and lipid metabolism and...

Thus far, approximately 30 loci influencing body mass index (BMI) and the risk of obesity have been identified. In this study, we aimed to examine the individual and joint associations of 23 BMI-associated loci identified from recent genome-wide association studies in Caucasians with obesity risk in young Chinese. Birth weight reflects prenatal metabolic adaption and has been related to later-life obesity risk. We particularly assessed whether these genetic variants interacted...

Background: α-Klotho was first identified as an aging gene and was later shown to be a regulator of phosphate metabolism. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is the key regulator of phosphate metabolism. Serum levels of soluble α-Klotho in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients have not previously been determined, especially in relation with FGF23 and creatinine levels. This study was designed to investigate whether serum soluble α-Klotho levels are modulated by ...

Backgrounds: Podocytes are highly specialized postmitotic kidney cells that contribute to maintaining the filtration barrier and normal structure of glomerular capillaries. The (pro)renin receptor (PRR), as ATP6AP2, is an accessory subunit of the vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase), implying more fundamental, developmental functions for the PRR in addition to its role in activating the local renin-angiotensin system.Results: Podocyte-specific conditional (P)RR...

Myocardin-related transcription factor (MRTF)-A is a Rho signaling-responsive co-activator of serum response factor (SRF). In this study we investigated roles of MRTF-A in the process underlying vascular diseases by using two different mouse models of vascular diseases. MRTF-A expression was significantly higher in the wire-injured femoral arteries of wild-type mice and in the atherosclerotic aortic tissues of ApoE−/− mice than in healthy control tissues...