Endocrine Abstracts

Increased hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid (HPT) axis activity results in high bone turnover. T3 stimulates osteoblast and osteoclast activities, whereas TSH is proposed to inhibit bone turnover directly. Resolving the relative importance of T3 and TSH is complicated by their physiological inverse relationship. We studied 10 controls and 4 patients with resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH), in which mutation of thyroid hormone receptor beta (THR...

Androgen secreting ovarian tumours account for 0.1% of ovarian tumours. They can appear at any age (mean, 42 years) and can be slow growing.We report a case of androgen secreting ovarian tumour diagnosed at a delayed stage. It is unusual as it evaded diagnosis because of various factors, which we believe should be learning lesions.A 56-year-old lady with medical history of sub-arachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), presented with features of...

The induction of general anaesthesia and initiation of positive pressure ventilation in cases of superior vena caval (SVC) obstruction carries an unacceptably high risk of cerebral venous congestion, and with it, the risk of cerebral oedema and death. Two similar cases have been dealt with successfully in our unit: both had thyrotoxic retrosternal multinodular goitres and SVC obstruction, and both had tracheal compression mandating surgery.Following cont...

We report the case of a 70 year-old-lady with a background of type 2 diabetes and hypertension who was admitted with a history of self-neglect. She had burns affecting her hands which she had sustained after falling asleep next to the fire five weeks previously. Over the preceding three months, the patient had also deteriorated in terms of self-care, appetite, mobility and control of her blood sugars.On examination, the patient was noted to have severe u...

We present an unusual cause for symptomatic hypopituatism presenting due to a metastatic deposit. A 77 year old smoker and ex-miner was admitted with a 3 week history of breathlessness, malaise and weight loss. He had clinical evidence of a severe pneumonia but also had clubbing, was hypotensive, hypothermic and hypoglycaemic. He had no clinical features of Addison’s disease, no neurological symptoms or signs and a normal breast examination. Chest X-ray suggested extensiv...

Bone mineral density (BMD) is a highly heritable trait. We sought to investigate site and gender specificity of BMD inheritance in general pedigrees.Probands with primary osteoporosis and low BMD relative to an age- and sex- matched cohort (z-score <-2.0 at either lumbar spine (LS) or femoral neck (FN)) were identified from the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (Oxford UK) (45 male, 102 female). All available first- and second-degree relatives were recrui...

Prohormone convertase 1/3 (PC1/3), encoded by protein convertase subtilisin kexin type 1 (PCSK1), converts inactive prohormones such as pro-opiomelanocortin, proinsulin, proglucagon into biologically active peptides. Inherited genomic mutations of PCSK1 present with malabsorptive diarrhoea, hyperinsulinemic hypoglycaemia, central adrenal and thyroid defects and severe obesity. Somatic mutations of insulinomas are associated with genetic defects interfering with insulin secreti...

Seasonal reproduction enables animals outside tropical regions to rear offspring in a favourable environment. Increasing day length triggers a hypothalamic relay involving thyrotropin, the type 2 deiodinase enzyme and thyroid hormone, which activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis to induce reproductive competence. Photoperiod regulates calcium metabolism and the egg-laying cycle in the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), and we hypothesised that activity of ...

Seasonal reproduction enables animals outside tropical regions to rear offspring in a favourable environment. Increasing day length triggers a hypothalamic relay involving thyrotropin, the type 2 deiodinase enzyme and thyroid hormone, which activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis to induce reproductive competence. Photoperiod regulates calcium metabolism and the egg-laying cycle in the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), and we hypothesised that activity of ...

Reproductive timing strongly influences the fitness of the individual. While most vertebrates rely on photoperiodic changes to induce seasonal reproduction, the arctic ground squirrel (AGS) naturally undergoes reproductive maturation in a photoperiod-independent manner. In addition, males spontaneously activate their reproductive axis during hibernation, but the timing of reproduction is sensitive to external cues. We are using electron microscopy to examine, define, and measu...