Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The visceral adipose tissue-derived serine protease inhibitor (vaspin), a novel adipocytokine, has been widely reported to be associated with obesity and insulin resistance. Obesity induced chronic inflammatory process plays a pivotal role in insulin resistance and is characterized by the activation of NF-κB pathway and its target genes. The present study aims to investigate the effects of vaspin on NF-κB pathway and its target genes in basal and TNF-&#...

Objective: The role of pancreatic insulin secretion in Chinese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is not clear. To evaluate insulin sensitivity (IS) and β-cell function in lean and obese women with PCOS, either separately or by using an disposition index (DI).Methods: Cross-sectional study involving 137 Chinese women with PCOS and 123 normal women were examined by anthropometry, lipid profile, sex hormone, high-sensitivity C-reactive protei...

Background: Metastases to the sellar region are extremely rare tumours in surgical series. The reported incidence has recently increased with advances in neuroimaging. Survival of patients with metastatic cancer has improved due to progress in oncologic therapies and diagnostics. Patients with sellar metastases (SM) follow a variable disease course that is not well defined.Objective: The objective was to evaluate the clinical characteristics, surgical ap...

Background: Posterior pituitary tumors (PPTs) present as clinically nonfunctioning space-occupying lesions of the sellar region. The diagnosis of PPTs is not possible on the basis of their clinical, radiological and biochemical features. Immunohistochemistry identifies them for their expression of TTF. They are virtually always mistakenly defined as one of the more common pituitary tumours. Due to their rarity, the long-term endocrine aspects and outcomes of PPTs are not well ...

Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is an inherited skeletal disease characterized by defective bone mineralization due to a deficiency in tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNALP). Patients with the severe infantile form of HPP have a poor prognosis that often results in high mortality by one year. Asfotase alfa is an approved therapy for HPP, while requires chronic injections to maintain efficacy. To develop a one-time gene therapy for HPP, we examined the safety and efficacy of AA...

Background: Observational and genetic Mendelian randomisation (MR) data has demonstrated the association of adulthood overweight/obesity with development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). However, the contribution of early life (i.e. childhood/adolescence) body composition on incident PCOS is unclear. This study determines the influence of body composition on the likelihood of developing PCOS.Methods: We conducted a 2-sample Mendelian randomisation st...

New-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is a serious complication after a solid organ transplantation. It has been reported to occur in 4% to 25% of renal transplant recipients, 2.5% to 25% of liver transplant recipients, 40% to 60% of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and 2% to 53% of all solid organ transplantations. The diagnosis is performed using unmodified criteria for diagnosing diabetes in the general population and risk factors are the commonly recognized fac...

Objectives: Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is an inborn error of metabolism resulting from loss of function mutations in the tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) gene. Asfotase alfa is an approved enzyme replacement therapy for HPP, while effective, it requires chronic multiple injections up to 6 times per week. We have developed a one-time gene therapy drug (ARU-2801: an adeno-associated viral vector expressing TNAP-D10) for HPP and examined the safety and effica...

Pregnancy is characterised by profound changes in maternal physiology. For instance, there are changes in the metabolic, cardiovascular, immune and renal systems of the mother which enable her to support fetal nutrient supply and growth. These changes are signalled in part by the production of protein hormones by the placenta (Napso et al., 2018). Failures in maternal adaptation and placental function lead to pregnancy complications such as abnormal birth weight and g...

ACTH signalling at the adrenal zona fasciculata induces rapid synthesis of glucocorticoids, accompanied by rapid transcription of genes encoding steroidogenic enzymes, including the labile, rate-limiting protein, StAR protein. ACTH induction of StAR transcription has been demonstrated to be predominantly CREB-dependent, and this mechanism is regulated by both CREB phosphorylation and its binding to the CREB co-activator TORC (transducer of regulated CREB activity, also known a...