Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an uncommon aggressive malignancy. Despite surgical resection, recurrence rates are high. Two areas of contention currently involve treatment of ACC: the role of laparoscopic surgery in removal of large, potentially malignant tumours and the role of Mitotane. We present a case of a large adrenal tumour, later confirmed as ACC, where initially laparoscopic adrenalectomy was considered, and adjuvant Mitotane has been given despite ...

Dynamic pituitary testing is a time consuming and high cost investigation. For effective use of this procedure a close audit of the effectiveness and outcome of testing is required. At UCH we have developed a streamlined nurse led service with medical supervision and we now present an audit of 1 year of testing.Forty-one patients underwent pituitary function testing for growth hormone (GH) and ACTH during 2006. Referral source was from the endocrine team...

Serum testosterone level is known to inversely correlate with insulin sensitivity and obesity in men. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that testosterone replacement therapy reduces insulin resistance and visceral adiposity in Type 2 diabetic men. Adipocytokines are hormones secreted by adipose tissue and contribute to insulin resistance. We report a double-blind placebo controlled crossover study in 20 hypogonadal Type 2 diabetic men examining the effect of testostero...

Serum testosterone level is known to inversely correlate with insulin sensitivity and obesity in men. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that testosterone replacement therapy reduces insulin resistance and visceral adiposity in Type 2 diabetic men. Adipocytokines are hormones secreted by adipose tissue and contribute to insulin resistance. We report a double-blind placebo controlled crossover study in 20 hypogonadal Type 2 diabetic men examining the effect of testostero...

This study examined the effects of maternal diet during late pregnancy and body shape at birth, on postnatal plasma concentrations of IGF1 and leptin.From day 85 of gestation pregnant sows were offered the standard diet (S: n=4) or the S diet plus 30% extra energy derived from either carbohydrate (C: n=5) or palm oil (PO: n=5). Piglets were selected from the normal distribution curve of Ponderal Index (PI: kg/m3), long and thin (Thin<10 <su...

This study examined the effects of maternal diet during late pregnancy and body shape at birth, on postnatal plasma concentrations of IGF1 and leptin.From day 85 of gestation pregnant sows were offered the standard diet (S: n=4) or the S diet plus 30% extra energy derived from either carbohydrate (C: n=5) or palm oil (PO: n=5). Piglets were selected from the normal distribution curve of Ponderal Index (PI: kg/m3), long and thin (Thin<10 <su...

Abnormal foetal growth is associated with an increased predisposition to impaired glucose metabolism (Hales and Barker. Diabetologia 1992; 35: 595-601). The aim of the study was to examine whether size at birth influenced glucose tolerance in pigs at 5 months of age.The litters from 4 multiparous sows were weighed at birth. A low (L: <10th percentile) and normal (N: 40th-60th percentile) piglet was selected from each l...

Increasing energy intakes of sows may decrease the severity of changes in body condition occurring throughout the reproductive cycle and lead to improved efficiency of energy utilisation. The study aimed to examine the effects of feeding extra energy during late pregnancy on body fat deposition, reproductive performance and plasma insulin concentration.Twenty-four multiparous sows were randomly allocated to one of three dietary treatments. From day 85 of...

In humans, pregnancy is considered a diabetogenic event1. A similar situation occurs in sows1. The amount of fat in the sows' diet is inversely correlated to glucose clearance time, thus modifying glucose tolerance2. The aim was to investigate the influence of altered maternal diet during gestation (term = 115days) on the glucose tolerance of the sow. Thirty-four pregnant sows were randomly allocated to 4 isocaloric diets for either the first (G1) or second (G2) 60 days of ges...

Epidemiological studies have shown that infants of low birth weight show poor neonatal growth and increased susceptibility to adult diseases such as diabetes in later life. Pigs provide an ideal model to examine the influence of size at birth due to the natural variance in piglet weight within a litter. This study examined whether birth weight influences the expression of UCP3 and it's regulation by thyroid hormones in neonatal pigs.Piglets from 11 litte...