Endocrine Abstracts

The basic mechanisms underlying thyroid growth and proliferation in thyroid cancer are still incompletely characterized. Lithium inhibits GSK3beta and affects via phosphorylation the degradation of free beta-catenin, a potent transcription factor. Hence, using lithium as a model to modulate the wnt/beta-catenin pathway, we investigated its potential activation in-vitro in neoplastic human thyroid cell lines (FTC133, NPA).Our results show that lithium fun...

Introduction: Obesity associated with the risks of metabolic syndrome is a rising problem in Western societies but shows a wide depot- and sex-specific variation. A better understanding of the regulatory mechanisms underlying this different depot- and sex-specific role is crucial to identify potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets. MicroRNAs are recently recognized important players in adipogenesis and fat metabolism. They post-transcriptionally regulate diverse biologica...

A positive expression of oestrogen-receptors has recently been demonstrated in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours as well as in non-neoplastic islet-cells. This prompted us to systematically analyse the expression of both oestrogen and progesterone receptors in a series of GEP neuroendocrine tumours. We analysed oestrogen- and progesterone-receptor in 69 foregut GEP, 25 midgut GEP and seven hindgut GEP. Namely, the foregut GEP included 53 pancreatic NET. All tumour samples were...

Background: Anaplastic thyroid-carcinomas (ATC) and a subset of papillary (PTC) and follicular (FTC) thyroid carcinomas behave aggressively showing metastatic spread and radio-resistance. Both the PI3K and HIF pathways are associated with aggressiveness and metastasis in thyroid carcinoma.Aims: To assess if the PI3K/HIF pathways contribute to radio-resistance and assess the effect of PI3K/HIF inhibition on radio-sensitivity of thyroid-carcinoma cells (85...

Background: Anaplastic thyroid-carcinomas (ATC) and a subset of papillary (PTC) and follicular (FTC) thyroid carcinomas behave aggressively showing metastatic spread and radio-resistance. Both the PI3K and HIF pathways are associated with aggressiveness and metastasis in thyroid carcinoma.Aims: To assess if the PI3K/HIF pathways contribute to radio-resistance and assess the effect of PI3K/HIF inhibition on radio-sensitivity and metastatic behaviour of th...

The majority of adult GH replaced patients reach target IGF1 levels using established injection devices. However, a small but significant cohort of these patients fail to achieve these intended goals. This can be manifested as either a failure to improve (biochemically or symptomatically) despite escalating GH doses, or large variations in IGF1 measurements despite steady GH dosing.The Easypod® device has a memory chip which allows record...

A 75-year-old man presented to Emergency department with fever and 3 episodes of tonic clonic seizures. He had recent ear infection. He was intubated and ventilated and taken to ICU.He had CT head which was normal. Lumbar puncture results were consistent with Pneumococcal meningitis. He was treated with appropriate antibiotics.During recovery he had persistent hyponatremia. He was reviewed by Endocrine team and his TFT, cortisol an...

Intratumoural hypoxia is associated with aggressive and metastatic phenotypes with poor prognosis. The transcription factor HIF-1α is a key regulator of hypoxia-mediated gene expression that is documented to promote tumour growth and metastasis in a wide range of cancers. However its role in the development of thyroid carcinomas is relatively unknown. We have previously shown that HIF-1α is highly active in a range of thyroid cancer cell lines with highest activity o...

Copeptin is a stable AVP marker and stoichiometrically released with AVP. It closely reflects changes in water balance. Its stimulation in severe stress has recently has been suggested for the early diagnosis of myocardial infarction but clear definition of the physiological variability is necessary. Here, we studied the pulsatile and circadian variation in healthy individuals and compared copeptin to cortisol rhythms.Copeptin levels were sampled every 2...

Background: Intratumoural hypoxia is associated with an aggressive and metastatic phenotype and poor prognosis. The transcription factor Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a key regulator of hypoxia, inducing the expression of genes which promote tumour cell survival, such as carbonic-anhydrase IX (CA-IX) playing a role in cell adhesion, pH regulation and dedifferentiation of the tumours. Here we investigated whether there is cross talk between the HIF-1 and Wnt...