Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Altered appearance and changed visual function characterize thyroid associated orbitopathy (TAO). TAO affects face and eyes and influences social function. It is well documented that thyroid disease influences the patient’s quality of life negatively and TAO aggravates the situation. Recently, attention has been directed towards the impact of the patient’s body image and studies show how body image dissatisfaction is a significant psychosocial complication...

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is widely used for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). During this procedure approximately 20 g of iodide is applied by radiopaque material. There is usually high awareness regarding hyperthyroidism in association with contrast enhanced imaging studies and TACE. To date, however, there are no reports regarding the frequency of hypothyroidism after this procedure, although high doses of iodide can also inhibit the synthesis of thy...

Introduction: So far, only two representatives of thyronamines, namely 3-iodothyronamine (3-T1AM) and the iodine–free thyronamine (T0AM), have been detected in vivo. While intensive research is done on the (patho-) physiological function of 3-T1AM, the physiological role of T0AM is poorly studied. Conflicting data have been reported for the acute cardiac effects of T0AM. This project therefore determined whet...

Background: Thyroid hormones (THs) stimulate hepatic de-novo lipid biosynthesis but also lipolysis and beta-oxidation. Similarly, they simultaneously enhance cholesterol uptake, biosynthesis, and degradation. Thyroid hormone receptor beta (THRβ) is the main hepatic thyroid hormone receptor. Mammals have developed a circadian timekeeping system that controls physiological processes to adapt to time-of-day.HypothesisWe hypothesized that TH effects are subject to circadian r...

Cellular 24-hour rhythms depend on transcriptional programs controlled by a set of circadian clock genes/proteins. Systemic factors like humoral and neuronal signals, oscillations in body temperature, and food intake align physiological circadian rhythms with external time. Thyroid hormones (THs) are major regulators of circadian clock target processes such as energy metabolism, but little is known about how fluctuations in TH levels affect the circadian coordination of tissue...

Thyroid hormones (TH) play a pivotal role in embryonal and postnatal development in vertebrates, hence, their secretion is highly regulated. In clinical practice TSH and free T4 (fT4) are commonly used as the most reliable parameters to evaluate the TH status. But they only represent the TH receptor β driven status of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis while organ or tissue specific TH availability may be different. This discrepancy originates in the tissue specific ...

Most Europeans take drinking milk for granted; it’s the everyday consumption of an everyday drink. But for most adult humans, indeed, for most adult mammals, milk is very far from an everyday drink. Milk is something that we have specifically evolved to be able to consume in the relatively recent past. The ability to digest the sugar in milk is called Lactase Persistence and Darwin’s engine of evolutionary change, natural selection, has probably worked harder on this...

The quantification of TSH from a serum or plasma sample constitutes the cornerstone of assessing the thyroid axis in the clinical routine. In addition, T4 and/or T3 levels may be determined to diagnose pathological conditions. However, these data do not necessarily reflect the local action of thyroid hormone in the target tissues and are sensitive to distortion, as best known from pregnancy when chorionic gonadotropin disturbs the regular feedback control. Recently, we identif...

Background: Asprosin is a novel adipokine involved in appetite and glucose regulation. During obesity, circulating asprosin is increased, which leads to increased inflammation and can disrupt cellular functions such as mitochondrial respiration. Asthma is a comorbidity of obesity, with both diseases sharing an inflammatory profile and mitochondrial dysfunction. This study investigated the molecular links between asthma and obesity, by exploring whether asprosin causes mitochon...

Background: Cushing’s syndrome is the most common cause of endogenous hypercortisolism that results from the excessive exposure to glucocorticoids. Even though this syndrome is represented by a constellation of clinical signs and symptoms, the most common next features are the truncal obesity and the moon facies, making it hard not to be recognized. It is more common in women (F/M=5-8:1) with an avarage age of 20–40 years.Case Presentation: A 3...