Endocrine Abstracts

Professor Waljit Dhillo is a Professor in Endocrinology and Metabolism and Consultant Endocrinologist, Imperial College London. He completed his medical training at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School, University of London in 1994. During this time he also completed an Intercalated BSc in Biochemistry (awarded First Class Honours) funded by the Medical Research Council. He then completed h...

Background and aims: Thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) positivity is prevalent in women of reproductive age and pre-disposes to thyroid dysfunction, namely hypothyroidism, which has adverse effects on pregnancy. The aim of this study was to report the rate of development of abnormal thyroid function among initially euthyroid TPOAb positive women recruited into TABLET trial. To also identify factors associated with the development of hypothyroidism and to compare outcomes bet...

Thyroid dysfunction and autoimmunity are associated with adverse fertility and pregnancy outcomes. International bodies recommend routine thyroid function screening in women with history of subfertility or miscarriage. Knowledge about the frequency of, and risk factors for, thyroid disease is limited in the asymptomatic preconception population. A prospective multi-centre study of women with history of miscarriage or subfertility conducted at 49 hospitals across the United Kin...

Introduction: NICE recommends annual screening for diabetic retinopathy in children with type 1 diabetes aged over 12 years and/or with duration of diabetes over 5 years. This audit aimed to evaluate patient attendance for retinopathy screening, to identify the prevalence of retinopathy and maculopathy and to ascertain characteristics of patients.Methods: This was a retrospective audit of patients attending for eye screening from January 2008 to April 20...

Aim: To describe the prevalence and natural history of retinopathy in a cohort of children and young people with type 1 diabetes attending a tertiary hospital diabetes clinic.Methods: We analysed follow-up data from 2008 to 2010 on all children eligible for retinopathy screening using the ‘Twinkle’ diabetes database and the regional retinal screening database.Results: 88% (149/169) of eligible children were screened in 20...

Endocrinology is fascinating as new hormones are being discovered every year with the power of genomics and scientific advances. The physiology of these novel hormones needs to be investigated in animal studies to determine their mechanism of action and efficacy. These essential animal studies can then highlight potential translational potential of novel hormones. The next step in this translational pathway is first into human studies followed by studies in patient cohorts to ...

Kisspeptin and neurokinin B are 2 novel key hypothalamic hormones which are vital in normal reproductive function. Inactivating mutations for the gene or the receptor for either of these peptides will cause a failure of puberty due to hypogonadtotrophic hypogondaism. In this talk I will present evidence to suggest that kisspeptin is important in sexual and emotional processing in humans (1). In addition I will present evidence which suggests that NK3R (the receptor for NKB in ...

Hot flushes affect 70% of menopausal women and often severely impact physical, psychosocial, sexual, and overall wellbeing. Hormone replacement therapy is effective but is not without risk. Neurokinin B signalling is increased in menopausal women, and has been implicated as an important mediator of hot flushes in animals. We carried out a phase 2, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-centre, crossover trial assessed the effectiveness of an oral neurokinin 3 rec...

Infertility affects one in six couples in the UK. Identification of novel factors which are critical to reproductive function could lead to improved therapies for infertility.Kisspeptin has been identified as a key regulator of the reproductive system. Defective kisspeptin signalling causes a failure of reproductive hormone release (hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism) in rodents and man leading to a failure to go through puberty.I have...

Diabetes and endocrinology is a specialty in which we study the fascinating area of the physiology of hormones, which can influence the regulation of every organ in our body. Understanding how hormones are dysregulated in pathological states leads to improved diagnosis and treatment of these conditions. Rapid progress has been made in the field and there are now many classical endocrine systems, which are well established that we have all learnt about as undergraduate trainees...