Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Chronically elevated brain glucocorticoid (GC) levels impair cognition. In rodents, raised GC levels prior to lipopolyaccharide (LPS) administration potentiate neuroinflammation although GC suppresses neuroinflammation if administered after LPS. 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-1 (11β-HSD1) activity can increase intracellular GC levels, including in the brain, without alteration in circulating levels. 11β-HSD1 deficiency/inhibition protects against a...

Postoperative hypocalcaemia is usually transient; we present a case report of persistent symptomatic hypocalcaemia following elective thyroid surgery; its challenging pharmaceutical management including the successful use of a novel therapeutic agent. A 56 yr old woman with known type 2 diabetes, morbid obesity (treated with gastric band), and benign intracranial hypertension underwent total thyroidectomy for a multi-nodular goitre, following which she became symptomatic with ...

In addition to their essential role in fetal lung development, glucocorticoids promote late-gestation maturation of the fetal heart as shown by severe functional impairment, structural disorganisation and transcriptome immaturity in fetal hearts of glucocorticoid receptor-deficient (GR-/-) mice. Here we use primary fetal mouse cardiomyocytes (E16-E17.5) to investigate whether these effects of glucocorticoids result from direct actions of GR and whether they are independent of ...

Introduction: Calcium and vitamin D (CaD3) supplementation is routinely offered to care home residents in the UK to treat prevalent vitamin D insufficiency. However, blanket prescribing may be ineffective where secondary hyperparathyroidism is due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and dangerous if undiagnosed primary hyperparathyroidism is present. In this base-line audit, we aimed to estimate the frequency and appropriateness of CaD3 prescription, and the prevalence of primary ...

The enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1), regenerates active glucocorticoids (cortisol, corticosterone) from inert substrates (cortisone, 11-dehydrocorticosterone) and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome. 11β-HSD1 expression is increased in adipose tissue and decreased in liver in human and rodent obesity. Paradoxically, in chronically high fat-fed mice 11β-HSD1 is down-regulated in adipose tissue. Transcri...

Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) levels are increased in response to glucocorticoids (GC) in T-lymphoma cell lines susceptible to GC-induced cell death (GICD). The GR gene is transcribed from 5 promoters generating alternate first exons, 1A-1E, with 1A expression restricted to immune tissue and the cortex of the brain. Expression of the 1A-containing variant correlates with susceptibility to GICD in mouse thymocytes. Here we describe the time course of GC induction of total GR mRN...

Vitamin D is essential to the control of calcium homeostasis and is mainly provided by exposure to sunlight. In the UK circulating Vitamin D is subject to seasonal variation with peak values occurring in early Autumn and trough values in late Spring. Requests for Vitamin D assays are increasing but few laboratories quote seasonal reference ranges and many commercial suppliers quote reference ranges for populations living in warmer, sunnier climates. This study established seas...

The binding characteristics of maternal serum human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) to immobilised lectins, specifically Concanavalin A (Con A), Lens culinaris agglutinin (LCA) and Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), have been shown be compatible with the proposed glycosyl structures of hCG as inferred from other analytical methods. We have shown that serum hCG from groups of pregnant women with or without type 1 diabetes show identical affinity for Con A and LCA, but serum hCG from th...

Regulation of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) trafficking in cells of the distal nephron is of major importance in the control of sodium reabsorption. Mutations in the genes compromising the molecular pathway by which corticosteroids regulate ENaC sodium reabsorption cause several hypertensive syndromes in humans. The molecular events underpinning ENaC exo- and endocytosis and the hormonal effects on ENaC trafficking are poorly understood. To start elucidating these pathw...

Obesity is a life-threatening, yet common condition that often lies at the root of other serious illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other neuroendocrine disorders. The central nervous system signalling pathways regulating food intake are complex and the precise mechanisms remain to be determined. Cocaine- and amphetamine- regulated transcript (CART) is a CNS neuropeptide involved in the regulation of feeding.Development of a two-site immunometric assay ...