Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: The ITT is the gold-standard for assessment of GH and ACTH reserve but has certain contraindications. GH and cortisol responses of <3 ng/ml and <500 nmol/l, respectively, have been defined as evidence of severe deficiency. The GST like the ITT stimulates both the ACTH and GH secretion and is suggested to be a good alternative in terms of efficiacy. However, there are limited prospective data with modern assays on sensitivity and specificity for the GST in co...

Background: The variablity of the individual susceptibility to diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance is well known, but so far insufficiently explained. As skeletal muscle metabolism and insulin sensitivity are important pathophysiologic features of obesity-asscociated metabolic perturbations, we tried to identify differences in muscular gene expression profiles between high fat fed rats prone to develop obesity (diet-induced obesity, DIO) and those which remained lean (...

Background: Obese patients show an increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, but the causality of the relationship is not known. Here, we examine whether a pharmacologic sympathectomy influences diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in the high fat fed rat model.Methods: Wistar-Rats were fed ad libitum with a high fat diet (HF, 40 energy% of fat, based on lard) for 12 weeks. A pharmacologic sympathectomy was performed by a) weekl...

Obesity, diabetes, and depression are associated with distinct neuroendocrine changes influencing the regulation of the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal (HPA) system. Up to now it was not possible to examine the central glucocorticoid feedback in humans to verify results of animal experiments in relating disease models. With the help of a recently developed computational approach we were enabled to address this question to patients with obesity, diabetes, or depression.<p cl...

Objectives: Obesity is the major risk factor for the development of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In addition, increased circulating levels of cytokines and chemokines and decreased adiponectin levels are associated with IGT and T2DM. However, a large part of morbidly obese patient remain normoglycemic. Therefore, we investigated if this protection can be attributed to a lower grade of inflammation or higher adiponectin levels.<p cla...

Background: Leptin has multiple functions including modulating energy homeostasis and the immune response. Leptin is an important target for therapy to modulate the immune response in several autoimmune diseases. Although the structure of leptin is known, that of its receptor remains unsolved. The aim of this project was to express and purify the extracellular domain the leptin receptor (ObR) in order to carry out functional and crystallisation studies to elucidate the mechani...

The use of the simplified IM glucagon stimulation test (IMGST) over its standard counterpart in the diagnosis of GH and cortisol deficiency has been advocated. Despite apparent comparable diagnostic utility, the simplified IMGST is capable of producing false positive results, raising the potential for misdiagnosis if relied upon exclusively.The aim of this study was to re-evaluate the diagnostic utility of the two forms of the IMGST, ascertaining the mag...

Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare and heterogeneous malignancy with incompletely understood pathogenesis and poor prognosis. Computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are routinely performed for imaging of the adrenal mass and for standard staging of chest and abdomen as lung and liver are the primary organs for metastatic spread in ACC. Contrast ultrasound is a non-invasive procedure which has been shown to have a high sensitivity an...

Adrenal pheochromocytomas are neoplasms characterized by catecholamine excess. We recently reported on the diagnostic value of plasma metanephrines measured by RIA for the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma. However, RIA may not be used in many laboratories.This study evaluated plasma and urinary metanephrines determined by a newly available ELISA as well as serum chromogranin A (CgA) for the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma. Spontaneous blood samples and 24h-ur...

Hypothalamic MC4R receptors are Galphas-coupled GPCR’s that mediate the satiety response to αMSH. MC4R expression predominates in the PVN/VMH regions of the hypothalamus, regulating satiety gene expression (e.g. Bdnf). Human MC4R mutations often result in compromised Galphas-cAMP-PKA signalling and obesity onset. However, downstream signalling pathways have yet to be elucidated. We have investigated the potential for αMSH to stimulat...