Endocrine Abstracts

Having spent many months, if not years, obtaining and analysing your data you are ready to submit your manuscript to your preferred Journal. There is one step though that is often over-looked; responding to reviewer’s comments i.e. the peer review process. This can be challenging to all but especially those who have not experienced the process before. There are however some golden rules, that if followed can make the process easier and result in your goal of gett...

The rate of bone growth is controlled by highly regulated activities of chondrocytes within the epiphyseal growth plate. Such activities allow rate of growth to function as a variable during postnatal development. Simplistically, growth rate is determined by the number of cells within the proliferative zone which is regulated by their rate of proliferation and also their rate of differentiation into the hypertrophic phenotype. In turn, a strong positive correlation exists betw...

Advances in the understanding of hypophosphatemic disorders have identified a novel group of molecules (FGF23, PHEX, MEPE, DMP1) that have been implicated in osteoblast mineralisation directly.The specific binding of PHEX to MEPE regulates the release of ASARM peptides which have an inhibitory role. Current concepts are speculative and the functional role of MEPE in chondrocyte mineralisation remains largely undefined.Proximal tibiae from 3-week old wild...

Abnormal growth patterns are commonly observed in children suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases. These disorders are associated with the increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which inhibit growth plate chondrocyte dynamics. Ceramide, a sphingosine-based lipid second messenger, mediates many of the actions of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Ceramide inhibits IGF-1 signalling and induces apoptosis in numerous cell types. This study determined the effects of C2-...

Short stature and osteoporosis are common in DMD. Glucocorticoids slow disease progression but are associated with further growth retardation and skeletal fragility. The muscular dystrophy x-linked (mdx) mouse is the most commonly used animal model of DMD. However, the phenotype is relatively mild and few medications that have shown therapeutic benefit in the mdx have translated clinically. The utrophin heterozygous mdx mice might be more appropriate...

Introduction: SOCS2 is an important negative regulator of post-natal growth, as demonstrated by the SOCS2 null overgrowth phenotype. We have used SOCS2−/− mice, alongside chondrocytes overexpressing SOCS2, to investigate the mode of action of SOCS2 at the epiphysis. SOCS2 maybe involved in growth retardation associated with chronic inflammatory disorders, therefore we studied LPS induced growth retardation in wild type (WT) and SOCS2−/−<...

The actions of SOCS2 on GH and IGF-1 signalling in growth plate chondrocytes have yet to be reported. During chronic paediatric inflammatory diseases retarded growth is seen in association with increased inflammatory cytokine levels, which is an effect that may involve SOCS2. The primary aim of this study was to investigate STAT signalling in chondrocytes in response to GH, IGF-1 and IL-1β. We also investigated the temporal expression of SOCS2 in response to GH and IGF-1 ...

Background: Dexamethasone (Dex) induced growth retardation in children is partly mediated by direct growth plate effects. In contrast, IGF-I induces bone growth and may ameliorate these effects.Aims: To determine the direct effects of Dex and IGF-I on bone length, cell proliferation and mineralisation in cultured fetal mouse metatarsals.Methods: 18-day-old fetal metatarsals were cultured in triplicate in serum-free medium for 12 days supplemented with either Dex 10<sup...

Background: Glucocorticoid (GC) induced growth retardation is partly due to effects on the growth plate but may vary depending on the pattern of GC exposure.Aims: To compare the effects of dexamethasone (Dex) and prednisolone (Pred) and timing of GC exposure on chondrocyte proliferation and terminal differentiation on the ATDC5 murine chondrocyte cell line.Methods: The cell line was fully characterized by assessing marker gene expr...

Background: Neonatal diabetes is an exceedingly rare condition, defined by the presence of persistent hyperglycaemia in the first months of life. It is sub-categorised into transient neonatal diabetes mellitus (TNDM) which resolves early and permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus (PNDM), which requires lifelong treatment. Transient neonatal diabetes is reported to have a global incidence of between 1/95 000–1/400 000 births. At present, there are less than 100 patients diag...