Endocrine Abstracts

Background: All children with Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD) should have a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan performed as standard (GH Research Society, 2000).Aims: To determine whether all patients diagnosed with GHD as determined by stimulation testing had an MRI scan performed; and to examine the relationship between the results of endocrine investigations and MRI scans.Methods: Retrospective review of all children who had ...

Introduction: Most (89%) UK units offer some form of free patient choice for new paediatric patients commencing GH therapy. Initial data indicates that patient choice improves adherence, resulting in improved growth (height velocity) short-term.Objective: To compare outcome measures between patients offered free choice and/or hospital supply (including home services and adherence tracking assessed using ampoule counting) with GH therapy with those who di...

Laboratory rats are commonly used to study energy homeostasis. To accurately record food intake or energy expenditure it is necessary to house rats individually, which can be stressful for social animals. Environmental enrichment may reduce stress and improve welfare in laboratory rodents. However, the effect of environmental enrichment on food intake and thus experimental outcome in rats is unknown. We aimed to determine the effect of environmental enrichment on food intake, ...

Steroids present in human serum can be used to identify a number of conditions such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Addison’s disease and Cushing’s disorder. Historically this has been completed using immunoassays; currently there is a move towards mass spectrometry which reduces analysis time, cross reactivity and improves sensitivity. When mass spectrometers are coupled with liquid chromatography systems (LC–MS) it is possible to monitor a number of steroid...

Our objective was to investigate the expression of Ki-67, RET and p53 in papillary thyroid micro–carcinomas (PTMCs) with or without autoimmune thyroid diseases. We included in the study 36 patients thyroidectomized between 2002 2007 for benign or malignant thyroid lesions, registered at Endocrinology Clinic and/or Institute of Pathology Targu Mureş, at whom the histology diagnosed PTMC. This cohort was divided into two groups: 19 PTMCs only and 17 PTMCs associated wi...

Recently the Aryl hydrocarbon receptor – interacting protein (AIP) gene attracted attention as a novel gene linked to familial cases of acromegaly. In Malta the predicted prevalence of pituitary adenomas is particularly high, 4.67 per 10,000 population, thus suggesting a genetic predisposition.Fourty seven maltese patients with acromegaly were screened for germ-line mutations in the AIP gene. Pituitary tumour tissue, removed during transphenoidal su...

Clomiphene citrate (CC) is the first-line therapy for inducing ovulation in infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but about 20% of them results un-responsive. Lifestyle modification programs are effective in restoring ovarian function and improving reproductive outcomes in PCOS patients.The aim of the present randomized controlled trial was to test the hypothesis that a very short-term intervention consisting in structured exercise train...

Background/aims: Saxagliptin is a potent, selective dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, specifically designed for extended inhibition of the DPP-4 enzyme. Saxagliptin is cleared by both metabolism and renal excretion. The aims of this study were to determine the effect of renal impairment (RI) and haemodialysis (HD) on the pharmacokinetics of saxagliptin.Methods: This open-label, parallel-group study was conducted in subjects with normal renal func...

In order to determine the influence of PCOS and obesity on vascular parameters, we studied 25 patients with PCOS (10 with normal body mass index – BMI – and 15 obese) without classic cardiovascular risk factors (IGT or DM, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia) and 23 control women (12 with normal BMI and 11 obese), pairwise matched for BMI, through a non-invasive method using high resolution ultrasound imaging. Global age range was 26.0±4.7 years. The mean values...

A patient was referred to us because he had hypokalemic hypertension and no detectable blood concentrations of renin and aldosterone. In addition, this patient had an adrenal mass. Since he was hyponatremic, he was put on fludrocortisone.At presentation, we found that the patient was normonatremic and hypokalemic and had a high sodium to urinary sodium to potassium to urinary potassium (SUSPUP) ratio. But review of older laboratory results showed an inad...