Endocrine Abstracts

Folliculo-stellate (FS) cells exert a paracrine regulation on their neighbouring endocrine cells in the anterior pituitary gland. FS cells are non-granular cells characterized by long cytoplasmic processes and form follicles with microvilli on their luminal cavity, suggesting a transport function. Moreover, FS cells form monolayers in primary culture and develop domes after reaching confluence, characteristics of polarized transport epithelia. However little is known about tra...

Introduction: Acute left ventricular failure is rarely caused by phaeochromocytoma. The rarity and severity of this presentation may result in delayed investigation and incorrect management.Case Report: A 22 year old woman was admitted with headache, vomiting, back pain and malaise. She was initially treated for suspected septic shock with intravenous antibiotics and fluids. Within 24 hours of admission, she rapidly deteriorated and developed pulmonary o...

Dietary fat has been correlated with obesity since it induces the proliferation and differentiation of pre-adipocytes. However it has become clear that the effect of fat on human health depends on the composition and the nature of fatty acids. Arachidonic acid (AA) is a major omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) with a controversial role in adipocyte differentiation. We investigated the effect of a brief AA exposure on pre-adipocyte differentiation. We show that a short t...

Dietary fat has been correlated with obesity since it induces the proliferation and differentiation of pre-adipocytes. Now it has become clear that the effect of fat on human health depends on the composition and the nature of fatty acids. Arachidonic acid (AA) is a major omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) with a controversial role in adipocyte differentiation. We investigated the effect on pre-adipocyte differentiation after a brief exposure to AA.<p class="abstext...

Recent studies have demonstrated that rather than being a collection of heterogeneously dispersed cells, the pituitary gland is wired by multiple and specific endocrine cell networks to synchronise hormone release. Prolactin (PRL) is primarily important for lactation. In response to changing physiological demands during pregnancy and lactation the pituitary has the ability to expand and contract its cell number. We have investigated changes in lactotroph morphology and cell-to...

Objective: The LH and chorionic gonadotropin (CG) are essential for reproduction and male sexual development. While LH induces tesosterone production, CG is essential for the establishment of pregnancy. In the New World Monkeys (NWM) the initial duplication of the ancestral LH-beta subunit (LHB) gene, which gave rise to the novel CG-beta subunit (CGB) gene, was followed by a genomic rearrangement event, leading to CGB expression in pituitary and placenta, whereas LHB became a ...

Annexin 1 (ANXA1) was first identified as a glucocorticoid (GC)-inducible protein in macrophages and is a mediator of the powerful anti-inflammatory actions of these steroid hormones. In the pituitary ANXA1 plays a critical role in mediating the early-onset negative feedback effects of GCs on the release of ACTH. ANXA1 is expressed in abundance in the anterior pituitary gland where it is localized specifically to the S100-positive folliculo-stellate (FS) cells. GCs act on FS c...

Although improvements in obstetric and neonatal care in recent years have led to reduction in morbidity and mortality from pre-eclampsia, our ability to predict the condition has not improved significantly. Endothelial dysfunction underlies many of the manifestations of pre-eclampsia. In this study we will assess methods of detecting endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness in high-risk pregnant women in early and late pregnancy. Sixty women with 2 or more risk fa...

There is a high heterogeneity of human growth hormone (hGH), variation rising from the different genes in pituitary and placenta, alternative splicing, post-translational modifications, oligomerization and binding to the growth hormone binding protein (GHBP). Distinguishing between different variants remains problematic and there is still quite little information about the proportion of these variants in circulation of both healthy individuals and of patients with growth hormo...

Annexin 1 (ANXA1) externalised from folliculostellate cells is known to be an essential intermediate in the early delayed (30 min- 3 h) negative feedback of glucocorticoids on the release of ACTH and other pituitary hormones. We have used a well-characterised folliculostellate cell line (TtT/GF cells) to investigate the mechanism by which ANXA1, a cytoplasmic protein, is externalised by cells. Externalisation is stimulated by dexamethasone (Dex) and inhibited by inhibitors of ...