Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Central obesity is a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), with omental adipose tissue (AT) particularly involved in such risk. Additionally, obesity can cause low-level gut-derived endotoxemia, which may drive metabolic dysfunction in AT through mitochondrial damage and reduced BRITE (brown-in-white) adipocytes. Bariatric surgery reduces obesity and may prevent such dysfunction. This study investigated whether endotoxin: 1) impairs mitocho...

Background: Obesity-linked metabolic disorders are a worldwide health concern affecting about one third of women of reproductive age. The programming events in utero impact the risk of predisposition to obesity and metabolic diseases. Maternal B12 deficiency is associated with higher cord lipids. B12 has a potential epigenetic role and therefore may perpetuate an intergenerational cycle of obesity through its effects on placental function and fetal metabolism. Therefore, we hy...

Background: Dysfunctional adipose tissue in obesity is known to contribute to metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This may be due to increased gut-derived endotoxemia (LPS) reducing brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity and altering mitochondrial function. However, the effect of LPS on BAT activity in 3D culture models has not been studied, despite giving a better representation of in-vivo tissue. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of LPS o...

Objective: To determine the effects of long-term growth hormone (GH) treatment on heart anatomy and function among adult GH deficient patients.Design: A retrospective observational study at Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark between 1999 and 2015.Patients: All patients with available echocardiography data at treatment baseline, 3–5 years and 8–10 years follow up. We included 25 naïve GH deficient...

Background: Evidence suggests sex-specific differences in the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Men and women have been shown to respond differently to certain therapies and epidemiological data suggest underuse of statins and renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blocking agents in women. We evaluated our local practice to identify differences in clinical characteristics and prescribing between men and women with DN.Methods: Clinical da...

Introduction: Autoantibodies (aAB) are characteristic of autoimmune diseases, but may also be found in apparently healthy individuals and precede pathological symptoms. We have recently reported on autoantibodies against the IGF1-receptor (IGF1R-aAB) in control subjects and patients with Graves’ disease (1). The isolated aAB were able to immunoprecipitate the recombinant autoantigen and antagonized IGF1 signaling in vitro. Given the structural similarities betwee...

Objective: 8-Prenylnaringenin (8-PN) is a phytoestrogen discovered in hops. GH3 pituitary adenoma cells of the rat show a variety of responses to phytoestrogens in vitro. This in vitro study aims to analyze changes in hormone expression in GH3 cells treated with 8-PN.Methods: GH3 cells were incubated with 0.5–50 μM 8-PN for 4 h. Medium and ethanol served as controls. Changes in expression of growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (...

Annexin 1 (ANXA1) is a glucocorticoid-regulated, calcium and phospholipid-binding protein well recognized as an important signalling intermediate in both peripheral systems and the brain. Online adult mouse brain gene libraries have reported ANXA1 mRNA expression in the subventricular zone (SVZ) lining the lateral ventricles. The SVZ is one of the two largest neurogenic areas of the brain and as ANXA1 plays a known role in cell differentiation and proliferation, we have invest...

Tpit is a pituitary-specific transcription factor that is important for corticotroph terminal differentiation. In TPit null mice corticotroph cells do not differentiate and cells immunopositive for SF1, LH and FSH are observed in the intermediate lobe (Pulichino et al. 2003 Genes Dev). As the anterior lobe in TPit null mice showed a 50% decrease in cell number compared to wild-type (WT), and corticotrophs comprise only 5–7% of anterior lobe cells, we investigated c...

Introduction: Several biomarkers are elevated in late pregnancy in women with preeclampsia (PET), but none have been sensitive or specific enough to be used routinely in early pregnancy to predict the condition. We measured plasma levels of the anti-angiogenic peptides FMS-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFLT-1), soluble endoglin (sENG), placental growth-factor (PGF), and an array of cytokines and adhesion molecules in early and mid pregnancy to assess their ability to predict PET.</p...