Endocrine Abstracts

Aldosterone has important effects on blood pressure regulation and electrolyte haemostasis: recent data from Framingham confirm that plasma levels of the hormone predict subsequent development of hypertension in young adults, while our own data show that plasma aldosterone correlates with blood pressure in older subjects, and is inversely associated with birth weight. It is clear, therefore, that long-term regulation of aldosterone is important in setting blood pressure levels...

Aldosterone is a key cardiovascular hormone in the development of hypertension and in the evolution of heart failure. Recent studies have suggested that Primary Aldosteronism may be present around 10% of patients with high blood pressure, although the precise definition of the syndrome remains uncertain. Nevertheless, it is clear that dysregulation of aldosterone production is a common clinical phenotype in cardiovascular disease. The majority of patients with aldosterone exce...

Primary Aldosteronism (PA), as defined by the autonomous and inappropriate secretion of aldosterone, causes mineralocorticoid hypertension. Key features of this include suppression of plasma renin and hypokalaemia. Recent studies that have used the ratio of aldosterone to renin (ARR) as a screening test have suggested that the prevalence of PA in unselected populations of patients with hypertension is around 10%. Only a minority of these patients, however, have a low potassium...

Insulin resistance is associated with a variety of cardiovascular disorders, including hypertension, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease and polycystic ovary syndrome. The mechanism of reduced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in these conditions is unclear, but is likely to involve defects in cellular components of insulin signalling. All of the disorders above are characterised by abnormal vascular endothelial function, with reduced availability...

We report the case of a 37-year-old woman with a 9-month history of intermittent and variable symptoms of anorexia, nausea & vomiting, muscular weakness and pain in association with recurrent hypoglycaemic episodes. The patient stated that she had episodes of myalgia with generalised weakness affecting mobility and a history of significant weight loss as a result of anorexia and nausea & vomiting. The patient had two previous hospital admissions with similar symptoms a...

A 58-year-old female presented with a 20-year history of resistant hypertension and hypokalaemia, with normal renal function. Investigations confirmed primary hyperaldosteronism that was not suppressed following a standard saline infusion test. CT scanning revealed a right-sided adrenal mass of 1.3 cm, with a signal intensity of −1 HU. The left adrenal was normal in appearance. A LDDST excluded ACTH-independent Cushing’s syndrome. Adrenal vein sampling confirmed rig...

Malignant neoplasm of the Adrenal gland is rare and carries a poor prognosis. Presentation is with either symptoms of hormone excess; Cushings Syndrome (Steroids), Conns Syndrome (Aldosterone), Virilisation (Androgens), Feminisation (Oestrogens), Phaeochromocytoma (Catecholamines) or abdominal mass, and patients often present with hypertension. Laboratory investigations confirm clinical suspicion of isolated hormone excess. Surgical resection offers the best chance for long-te...

Objective: A potential role for the ketone body beta-hydroxybutyrate (β-OHB) has received increasing interest in the study of metabolic disease, but the association of β-OHB with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) risk remains unclear. The present study aimed to explore the association of β-OHB with incident T2D in a prospective population-based cohort.Methods: We measured plasma concentrations of β-OHB using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscop...

ObjectiveDue to the increasing prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), it has become a global health challenge by being the most common cause of chronic liver disease. Recently, the microbiota has been linked to NAFLD, via altered bile acid and lipid metabolism. Whether serum Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a gut microbiota-dependent metabolite, is associated with NAFLD and NAFLD health outcomes remains unclear. The aim was to investigate...

Introduction: There has recently been a suggested link between central adrenal insufficiency and the high rate of sudden death in children and adolescents with Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS). This finding has important implications for PWS management, since steroid cover could exacerbate the existing tendency towards obesity. We have retrospectively examined our data for both mortality and pituitary–adrenal axis status in subjects attending the dedicated PWS clinic at t...