Endocrine Abstracts

Prostate cancer (PCa) patients are typically treated by androgen ablation therapies that ultimately fail when PCa enters in androgen-depletion independence (ADI), leading to metastasis and death. To develop better clinical treatments it is crucial to understand the mechanisms underlying progression towards ADI and metastasis. Using ChIP-seq technology, I will show how the forkhead factor FoxA1 precisely restricts the extension of the androgen receptor (AR) binding program main...

We report two patients with thyroid nodules where thyroid cancer has unexpectedly been found. The first patient presented at the age of 58 years with a lump in her neck. She was clinically and biochemically euthyroid. Ultrasound revealed a solitary left hypoechoic nodule (23×17 mm), with no other suspicious sonographic features. She had two FNA’s over a two year period which were reported as showing no malignant cells (THY2). Three annual ultrasounds showed no change...

A 24-year-old lady was initially presented with vomiting due to gastroenteritis and muscle cramps in 1993. Investigations revealed corrected calcium 1.65 mmol/l (range 2.2–2.6), phosphate 1.21 mmol/l (range 1.4–2.2) with intact Parathyroid hormone (PTH) 11 pmol/l (range 1.3–8.1) and potassium 3.1 mmol/l (range 3.5–5). She was found to have hypertension but no somatic signs. Ellsworth Howard test displayed a blunted response of cAMP and a normal phosphaturic...

Hyponatraemia is the commonest electrolyte abnormality in hospitalised patients. It is often seen in patients with complex medical problems and in the critically ill. We determined the outcome for patients identified to have hyponatraemia over a one month period.Methods: We reviewed all in-patients with severe hyponatraemia, defined as serum sodium <125 mmol/l (135–146) at Hope Hospital during April 2005. Patients were identified retrospectively...

Early detection, surgery and targeted treatments have seen remarkable improvements in cancer survival. Yet for many patients, cancers still relapse in distant organs after seemingly successful treatment of primary disease. The skeleton is one of the most common sites. Multiple myeloma develops directly in bone, whereas solid tumours, including breast and prostate cancers, spread to bone, often early in the clinical course, giving rise to incurable disease. It remains unclear h...

Goiter frequency (GF) in schoolchildren and urinary iodine concentration (UIC) in an appropriately large population sample are iodine nutrition (IN) best indicators. GF in mildly iodine deficient areas should be assessed ultrasonographically, as palpation sensitivity in such cases is low.Aim: To assess thyroid volume reference values as IN marker in population with recently introduced obligatory iodine prophylaxis (OIP).Material an...

In humans and other mammalian species, the pool of resting primordial follicles serves as the source of developing follicles and fertilizable ova for the entire length of female reproductive life. In recent years, molecular mechanisms underlying follicular activation have become more evident, mainly through the use of genetically-modified mouse models. As hypothesized in the 1990s, the pool of primordial follicles is now known to be maintained in a dormant state by various for...

The adrenal cortex is a dynamic organ that undergoes self-renewal. In the mouse it is divided into two concentric layers, the outer zona glomerulosa (ZG) and the inner zona fasciculata (ZF), that secrete aldosterone and corticosterone, respectively. Capsular and subcapsular stem/progenitor cells differentiate and migrate in a centripetal fashion to repopulate the gland until they reach the juxtamedullary region where they undergo senescence and apoptosis. Cell fate mapping stu...

The adrenal cortex is a dynamic organ that undergoes self-renewal. In the mouse it is divided into two concentric layers, the outer zona glomerulosa (ZG) and the inner zona fasciculata (ZF), that secrete aldosterone and corticosterone, respectively. Capsular and subcapsular stem/progenitor cells differentiate and migrate in a centripetal fashion to repopulate the gland until they reach the juxtamedullary region where they undergo senescence and apoptosis. Our lab has previousl...

In humans and other mammalian species, follicular development is a complicated process. The pool of resting primordial follicles serves as the source of developing follicles and fertilizable ova for the entire length of female reproductive life. In recent years, molecular mechanisms underlying follicular activation and development have become more evident, mainly through the use of genetically modified mouse models. Recently reported mutant mouse models have shown that a syner...