Endocrine Abstracts

Aggressive angiomyxoma (AA) is a rare mesenchymal tumor which is more common in females, occurring predominantly in the pelvi-perineal region. It tends to be locally aggressive with high recurrence after primary excision. The majority of these tumors are positive for oestrogen and progesterone receptors. Hence hormonal manipulation provides the possibility of effective treatment.Since 2005, we have been treating two female patients with AA medically (see...

Salivary cortisol (SalC) potentially has advantages over serum cortisol (SerC) as it is easier to collect and possibly reflects unbound (free) cortisol. SalC levels are approximately 10 times lower than SerC and require high measurement precision best addressed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), which in contrast to previously used radioimmunoassays eliminates cross-reactivity by other steroids. We describe the use of LC-MS/MS to evaluate the po...

Introduction: Oncogenic osteomalacia (OOM) is an uncommon disorder characterized by hyperphosphaturia, hypophosphatemia, decreased vitamin D3 serum levels, and osteomalacia. The paraneoplastic syndrome is driven by a small somatostatin receptor (sstr)-positive tumor that produces phosphatonins. While it is almost always difficult to detect the tumor by common imaging techniques, PET-CT using the radiotracer 68Ga-DOTANOC represents a novel diagnostic approach which f...

Background: Recent data suggest a direct impact of ghrelin and leptin on the immune system. Ghrelin appears to antagonize these effects. The role of ghrelin and leptin in the context of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AV) has not been reported.Methods: Fasting serum ghrelin, free and bound leptin levels were measured in 44 patients with active AV and 25 in matched healthy controls. Follow-up under immunosuppressive therapy was available in 25 patients (1, 3,...

Purpose: Neuroendocrine dysfunction represents a frequent consequence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) but has not been studied longitudinally as yet. Here we attempt to identify predictors of late endocrine insufficiency following TBI.Methods: 71 consecutive patients (age 18 – 87 yrs) with TBI assessed by an intial CT and the Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) were prospectively studied as to their pituitary function on day 0, 3 and 7 and dynamically 24–...

Background: Tissue hypoxia is a hallmark of rapidly proliferating tumours which most frequently adapt and prosper under low oxygen tension. The transcription factor, HIF-1α, is mediating these effects and induces target genes involved in survival, invasion and resistance to drugs and radiation. No data are available on the functional regulation of HIF-1α in thyroid carcinoma cells.Methods: Using thyroid carcinoma cells derived from papillary (N...

Leptin circulates as a free (FL) and a protein-bound (BL) form, with the soluble leptin receptor (LR) as an important binding compound. This study was set out to address the distinct role of the leptin components in the metabolic and inflammatory tissue-repair response in patients with liver cirrhosis.MethodsWe investigated hepatic substrate and leptin metabolism in 40 cirrhotics employing a combination of arterial and hepatic vein...

Background: Copeptin (pre-proAVP) secreted in equimolar amounts with vasopressin (AVP) closely reflects AVP release. Previously it was shown that copeptin is stimulated in standard pituitary function tests acting through hypothalamic centres. Furthermore, copeptin has been shown to subtly mirror stress potentially mediated via CRH. To further test a potential direct interaction of CRH with copeptin release which could augment AVP effects on pituitary function, we investigated ...

Introduction: A well known side effect of glucocorticoid treatment is abdominally centred weight gain due to increased sensation of hunger but the underlying mechanism is still only incompletely clarified. To elucidate whether the brain reward system is involved in this regulation we studied here the effects of an acute prednisolone infusion on brain centres responding to food stimulation by fMRI in healthy males and correlated these findings to the 24 h food intake of the sub...

Objective: Disturbed levels of thyroid hormones are associated with neuropsychiatric disorders, including memory impairments. Even short-term hyperthyroidism may affect properties of the human brain. To investigate the influence of thyroid hormones, we conducted functional neuroimaging. The aim of this study was to evaluate functional changes in working memory performance.Materials and Methods: Twenty healthy, male, right-handed subjects (age range 21&#1...