Endocrine Abstracts

DM 2 is a genetic disorder characterized by reduced insulin action and impaired insulin secretion. Metabolism of healthy Lithuanian citizens with an inherited risk for DM 2 was compared with a control group without a family history of DM 2. 84 normotensive first degree relatives (FDR) (23M, 61F) with at least one parent or sibling with DM 2 were investigated. 89 normotensive and glucose tolerant ubjects without family history of DM 2 and with a comparable distribution of age, ...

Aim:To determine the type of infections in admitted diabetics for the introduction of preventive measures.Method:Medical records of diabetics admitted to the medical unit of King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in the period between January 1999 to December 1999 were studied. Positive cultures were identified and the following informations were collected, age, sex, type of diabetes and it's duration, type of infection, causative organism, pres...

Coordinated interaction between the neuroendocrine and immune systems is of paramount importance in regulating the host's response to inflammation and anoxic stress. Adenosine, released under such conditions in high concentration, modulates a number of inflammatory processes and can regulate the activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Although adenosine receptors (ARs) have been described in the pituitary gland, the distribution of the receptor subtypes (A1, ...

There can be few mechanisms subject to more powerful evolutionary forces than ovulation. In all species the number of ovulatory follicles is carefully regulated to match the optimum number of offspring which can be successfully reared. In monovulatory species like the cow and our own it is essential that there is only a single ovulatory (Graafian) follicle if the disastrous consequences of multiple pregnancy are to be avoided. Folliculogenesis involves initial recruitment from...

David T Baird, Centre for Reproductive Biology, University of Edinburgh, UK AbstractDavid Baird was born in Glasgow in 1935 and was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the Universities of Aberdeen, Cambridge and Edinburgh. After graduating in medicine in 1959 he received clinical training in endocrinology, obstetrics and gynaecology in Edinburgh and London obtaining MRCP as well MRCOG. Between 1965 and 1968 he work...

Introduction: Increased plasma AVP contributes to the peripheral vasoconstrictor response to acute hypoxaemia in the fetus (Giussani et al. J.Physiol. 477, 81, 1994). We have shown that fetal pre-exposure to umbilical cord compression (UCC) sufficient to restrict fetal blood supply by 30%, markedly blunts the subsequent fetal vasoconstrictor response to hypoxaemia (Gardner et al. Circulation 106: 2278, 2002). This study determined whether this blunting is due to an effect on f...

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In the adult, females release more ACTH and adrenal steroids than males in response to stress, and these differences have been attributed to the stimulatory and inhibitory effects on the HPA axis of oestrogens and androgens, respectively (see Rivier, Pharm. Biochem. Behav. 64(4):739-751, 1999). The effects of sex differences on pituitary-adrenal responses to stress during fetal life remain unknown. This study compared the plasma ACTH and cortisol responses to acute hypoxia in ...

The fetus may successfully respond to acute hypoxaemia, but little is known about what effects prevailing adverse intrauterine conditions might have on these responses. The fetal cardiovascular response to acute hypoxaemia involves increased plasma vasopressin, which aids the redistribution of blood flow away from the periphery towards the fetal brain (Perez et al. Am.J.Physiol. 256:1011-1018, 1989). We investigated the effects of prevailing, but independently-occurring, hypox...

Introduction: Pituitary apoplexy is a rare acute complication in patients with functioning pituitary adenomas (including acromegaly) often followed by hypopituitarism and occasionally may show remission of symptoms after an apoplectic episode. We report this in an acromegalic patient who developed remission following pituitary apoplexy.Case report: A 24 years old woman is diagnosed with acromegaly after presenting for a period of 6 months moderate headac...