Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Subclinical hyperthyroidism (SH) affects about 1% of population. The diagnosis of this disease leans on the laboratory criteria only: decreased of TSH and normal FT3 and FT4 levels. SH increases mortality mostly due to cardiovascular diseases including arrhythmia and overload of the heart. Enlarging of heart chambers is one of the cause of arrhythmia, and cardiac index is one of indicators of heart after load.Aim: To e...

Prospective studies and clinical trials have repeatedly demonstrated that high intake of dietary fibre reduces the incidence of metabolic diseases and their risk factors. An increased intake of dietary fibre raises the amount of undigested material available for fermentation by the gut microbiota and the production of short chain fatty acids (SCFA). SCFA have been shown to regulate energy homeostasis through various metabolic pathways and receptor-mediated mechanisms. The majo...

The osteoclast is the cell that resorbs bone. Excessive activity by this cell is responsible for the bone loss that causes osteoporosis. Resorptive activity also appears to provide a ‘soil’ suitable for tumour metastasis to bone. Osteoclasts derive from precursors shared with the mononuclear phagocyte system, which differentiate into osteoclasts under the direction of M-CSF and RANKL. In vitro at least, TFG-beta is an essential cofactor for this process, and i...

Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including propionate, are the main metabolic by-products in the fermentation of non-digestible dietary fibre by the gut microbiota. SCFAs have wide-ranging effects in vivo, and their receptors, free fatty acid receptor 2 (FFAR2) and free fatty acid receptor 3 (FFAR3), are expressed at numerous tissue sites. Sodium propionate supplementation has been shown to increase energy expenditure, induce sympathetic neuron action potentials and p...

Cushing’s syndrome (CS) associated with dilated cardiomyopathy without LVH is rare but important to recognise as treatment of CS can lead to total recovery of heart function.A 30-year-old previously fit and well Turkish man presented with chest pain and was diagnosed with NSTEMI and CCF. An MRI of the heart and CT coronary angiogram showed normal coronary arteries but a large right adrenal tumour of 11.5 cm with extension into IVC. The transthoracic...

This study is designed to test the hypothesis that the gonadotrophinresponses to GnRH are heterogeneous and that, in pituitary/parapituitary lesion patients, the test is of no value as a diagnostic discriminator.We carried out a 5-year retrospective review of GnRH results from a cohort of 104 male (46) and female (premenopausal 49, post-menopausal 9) patients with pituitary/parapituitary lesions. Serum LH and FSH levels were measur...

Skeletal muscle exists in a state of continuous synthesis and breakdown of muscle proteins in order to preserve normal metabolic and locomotive functioning. Hormones are well established regulators of this homeostatic process. Chronic systemic inflammation can dysregulate skeletal muscle homeostasis via the disruption of endocrine signalling pathways. This can result in skeletal muscle atrophy, which is strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and sarcopenia....

Background: Maternal high fat diet (HFD) exposure is thought to perturb offspring metabolism, however the literature on experimental animal studies is inconsistent.Objectives: (i) In experimental studies, appraise data regarding metabolic parameters in offspring of mothers who consumed a HFD, (ii) assess possible predictors for these, and (iii) explore the quality of the evidence base.Methods: Searches were performed in four electr...

Ergot derived dopamine agonist therapy (EDDAT) has recently been associated with fibrotic cardiac valvulopathy in patients with Parkinson’s disease. These patients received a cumulative dose of 2800–6700 mg of cabergoline for an average duration of two years. This has raised concerns about the use of these agents in patients with prolactinomas and has led to the recent EMEA/MHRA guidance that all patient being treated with EDDA should undergo surveillance echocardiog...

Background: Thyrotropin-secreting pituitary adenomas (TSH-omas) account for 1% of pituitary tumours. In addition to TSH, these tumours frequently secrete glycoprotein α-subunit (αSU) and up to 50% are immunoreactive for growth hormone (GH), although GH suppression following oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) has not been routinely performed in all patients to identify subclinical GH hypersecretion or abnormal GH suppression.Objectives: To ex...