Endocrine Abstracts

Background: With increasing ethnic diversity in the Western World, it is important to establish the safety of religious practices such as fasting during Ramadan. There is limited information about severity and outcome of diabetes-related ketoacidosis (DKA) during Ramadan outside Middle East.Objective: We studied differences in severity, DKA-related complications and outcomes of DKA before (Shaban), during (Ramadan) and after Ramadan (Shawwal).<p clas...

As optimal postoperative management of patients with clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) is a matter of debate, the role of dopamine agonist (DA) therapy in this clinical setting was evaluated.Methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was conducted at two pituitary referral centrer with different standard practices for post-operative management of NFPA: DA therapy or conservative follow up. Dopamine receptor 2 (D2R) ...

Variation in endogenous glucocorticoid (GC) activity during inflammation has been linked to susceptibility to developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been shown that in patients with RA inflamed synovial tissue can generate active GCs through the expression of the 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 enzyme (11β-HSD1), which converts cortisone to cortisol. We examined whether the total body activity of 11β-HSD1 or its expression within synovium was assoc...

Within the synovium of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), synovial fibroblasts generate active corticosteroids through expression of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1). In vitro, this enzyme is strongly up-regulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) and IL1β. In this study, we determined the relationship between inflammation and global 11β-HSD1 activity in vivo, in a clini...

Introduction: Maternal diet during pregnancy has been linked to offspring body composition, but the specific nutrients and mechanisms involved are not well understood. Higher n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status is associated with lower risk of adiposity in adults, whereas n-6 PUFA are adipogenic. The effect of maternal PUFA in determining offspring body composition is unknown.Method: We evaluated the relationships between maternal ...

The 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) enzyme is a tissue specific regulator of glucocorticoid action that is linked to the development of osteoporosis, inflammatory arthritis and myopathy. Systemic inhibition of 11β-HSD1 enzyme activity has been proposed as a therapeutic option in these conditions. However, 11β-HSD1 activity has also been reported to be important in regulation of the immune response and the HPA axis. We have previously demo...

Most SGA infants show rapid catch-up growth in the first year of life such that height is in the normal range by 2 years. However, around 10% fail to catch-up and remain short. This latter group generally presents to specialist growth clinics at school age. Earlier identification would facilitate monitoring of growth and timely intervention.A 3-year, prospective population-based study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of identifying SGA babies ...

The pituitary-expressed growth hormone 1 gene was screened for mutation in a group of 74 Spanish children with familial short stature resulting in the identification of a novel Ile179Met missense mutation. Variant and wild-type GH were expressed in insect cells and functional studies were performed. The Ile179Met variant was shown to exhibit a similar degree of resistance to proteolysis as wild-type GH, indicating that the introduction of Met does not cause significant ...

Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is the most common acute endocrine complication needing hospital admission. Morbidity and mortality resulting from DKA are largely preventable if we can identify and act on gaps in management in relation to current guidelines.Objectives: To establish a common DKA registry to identify gaps in management and share best practices across centres.Methods: All people admitted with DKA at four hospi...

Introduction: Maintaining adequate nutritional status can be a challenge for patients with small intestinal neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) and mesenteric lymph node metastasis which can form a mesenteric mass. The preferred treatment option would be resection of this mesenteric mass, however, due to adjacent small bowel loops there is a risk of developing short bowel syndrome (SBS). If the mesenteric mass is not resected there is a risk of developing inoperable...