Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The 2013 Scottish Diabetes Survey demonstrated that only 22% of individuals with type 1 diabetes have optimal glycaemic control, defined as a HbA1c <58 mmol/mol. The 2014 Diabetes Improvement Plan in Scotland prioritised, ‘improving the care and outcomes of all people living with type 1 diabetes’. Scotland’s Diabetes Education Advisory Group has now been established. Accordingly, the Fife Insulin and Food Education for Diabetes (FIFE Diabetes) st...

Background: Lack of expression of MGMT (O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase) is associated with a better tumour response to temozolomide. There are no systematic studies of MGMT expression in pituitary tumour series.Aim: We introduced MGMT immunohistochemistry for all pituitary adenoma specimens in 2011. In this study we investigated the immunohistochemical expression of MGMT in a large series of pituitary adenomas, in order to determine (1) the over...

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is characterised by a combination of visceral obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and impaired glucose tolerance. It is a prominent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The etiology of MetS is complex. The progression of MetS is influenced by genetic susceptibility and environmental factors. The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association between transient receptor potential (TRP) c...

Stressful experiences produce profound physiological and behavioural disturbances that may contribute to many psychiatric disorders. Stress activates HPA axis whose end products glucocorticoids modulate immune cells and cytokine activity. Local effect of glucocorticoids depends not only on its concentration but also on the enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11HSD1), which amplifies intracellular glucocorticoid concentration by the conversion of inactive 11-de...

Background: Copeptin is the C-terminal portion of the precursor of vasopressin. In contrast to vasopressin copeptin is stable in vitro and easy to measure. Similar kinetics of both peptides have been described in different trials. However, the physiological area of normality of copeptin has never been evaluated.Methods: We measured plasma copeptin, sodium, and osmolality levels in 93 healthy volunteers at baseline, during/after i.v. infusion of ...

Background: Orolactin-producing tumours are the most frequent pituitary tumours, representing 40% of these tumours, with an annual incidence of 6–10 cases/million. <10% are macroprolactinomas, which vary by age and gender, with female to male ratio of 10:1, however, less diagnosed in this population group.Objective: To describe clinical features and therapeutic response of 30 women with invasive macroprolactinoma.Methods: ...

Background: Diabetic retinopathy is a frequent cause of vision loss in young adults. NICE guidelines require services to offer annual retinal screening to all diabetic children aged ≥12 years. A local 2009–2010 audit identified 57% underwent screening but only 16% had results documented with the paediatric diabetes service, both areas requiring improvement. In 2011, the paediatric diabetes service formulated a standard operating procedure with the eye-screening prog...

Objective: Recent guidelines promote adrenal venous sampling (AVS) as the reference test to document lateralised aldosterone hypersecretion in primary aldosteronism (PA). However, there are wide discrepancies between institutions in the criteria used. Our objective was to evaluate their consequences on the interpretation of AVS results.Design and methods: All 506 AVS performed from 01/2001 to 03/2009 in our institution were included. Results were interpr...

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency (25OHD) is common in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). 67–85% of female patients with PCOS have low concentration level of 25OHD (<20 ng/ml). It is believed that low concentration levels of 25OHD may exacerbate the symptoms of PCOS.Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the concentration of 25OHD in women diagnosed with PCOS and the analysis of the relationship between 25OHD concentration and such...

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) is often associated with autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). Common susceptibility genes increase risk for development of both AITD and T1DM. The influence of this comorbidity on the risk of diabetic microangiopathy is unknown.Methods/design: We included 100 consecutive patients with T1DM (55 men, and 45 women) aged 29 (mean, S.D.=6) with diabetes duration 13 (6) years, 35 had diagnosed at least one micr...