Endocrine Abstracts

Case history: 73-year-old woman recently commenced on oral diuretics for peripheral oedema was admitted with severe hypokalaemia and refractory hypertension. Conn’s syndrome was initially considered but admission of regular liquorice consumption made a diagnosis of hypokalaemic hypertension (pseudoaldosteronism) secondary to liquorice over-indulgence more likely. She went on to develop cardiomyopathy and had haematemesis from a bleeding duodenal ulcer (DU). Endocrine test...

Autoimmune hypophysitis is a rare cause of pituitary failure. It’s aetiology and natural history are not well understood. We present a case of pituitary failure that showed spontaneous resolution of radiological and clinical features, consistent with autoimmune hypophysitis.Case report: An 18 year old male presented with a 7 month history of polyuria and headaches. No significant past medical history or family history were noted. A water deprivation...

The retinoic acid receptor gamma (RARg, encoded by NR1B3/RARG) is significantly downregulated but not mutated in the MSKCC and PRAD prostate cancer (PCa) cohorts in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data. We investigated the consequences of modifying RARg expression.Independent of ligand, stable RARg knockdown stimulated RWPE-1 and LNCaP cells proliferation, changed the cell cycle profile and significantly altered global gene expression patterns th...

Introduction: Falsely high FT4 and FT3 with concurrent falsely low TSH have been reported in patients taking biotin and in a few case reports of patients with IgG anti-streptavidin antibody. However, other isotypes and effects on other immunoassays have not been reported.Case: A 77 year female presented with worsening fatigue with a background of hyperthyroidism on carbimazole. Clinically she appeared hypothyroid. Her results on Roche Cobas platform were...

Introduction: Testicular adrenal rest tumours (TARTs) are a complication of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), stimulated by hyper-secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). They are the main reason for fertility problems in men with CAH owing to compression of the seminiferous tubules, obstructive azoospermia and potentially permanent testicular damage. These lesions are benign and, in most patients present bilaterally. TARTs are treatable, but they can be misdiagnos...

Introduction: Islet transplantation (ITx) is a therapeutic option for patients with Type 1 diabetes. However there is attrition of graft function and the majority of patients require exogenous insulin injections and/or further transplants, within five years. Mouse models help elucidate mechanisms of islet graft failure and the NOD/Lt-scid IL2rγnull (NSG) mouse is useful to study human islet engraftment but few published studies exist. As diffe...

Dexamethasone (DEX) is a widely used synthetic glucocorticoid whose effects are mediated via glucocorticoid receptor (GRs). Synthetic glucocorticoids are widely used in the clinical setting, due to their potent anti-inflammatory actions. However they are associated with numerous systemic side-effects and may also promote cognitive dysfunction, including impaired memory and learning processes in both patients and animal models.Discrete pulses of endogenou...

Introduction: An important part of diabetes management is maintaining high standards of in-patient care. A previous audit in the south of England demonstrated difficulties consistently achieving standards identified as good practice. This audit aimed to identify current standards of in-patient care provided to children with type 1 diabetes across the Yorkshire and Humber region.Methods: The audit was conducted against in-patient care standards identified...

Introduction: Achieving optimum glycaemic control in young adults is challenging. Furthermore, transfer of care to adult services has been associated with deterioration in glycaemic control. We aimed to establish glycaemic control and rate of microvascular complications in young adults with childhood onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) and looked specifically at a subset of patients before and after transfer to adult care.Methods: A retrospective study of patien...

Regulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis by insulin and glucagon is central to blood glucose homeostasis. It has been proposed that the members of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-related kinases, the salt inducible kinase (SIK) isoforms, may play a role as signalling mediator in the control of insulin- and glucagon-regulated hepatic gluconeogenesis. However, the exact regulation and contribution of SIKs in hepatic gluconeogenesis is largely elusive. Here we employed selective...