Endocrine Abstracts

A 71 year old man presented with 6 months history of pain over the nipples, weight loss of ½ stone over the previous month and nausea. Initial investigations carried out by the breast surgeons including ultrasound scan of the breast and testes were normal. He was then referred to the Endocrine department for further investigations. There was no significant past medical history, he was taking over the counter vitamins and ...

A 42 year old male was referred to the endocrine clinic with accelerated hypertension (190/110) and an elevated aldosterone renin ratio (59). CT adrenal scan revealed a 16 mm diameter mass in the posterior limb of the right adrenal gland which was confirmed to be hyperfunctioning through adrenal vein sampling. Laparoscopic adrenalectomy was performed and histology confirmed cortical adenoma of the right adrenal gland consistent with Conn’s syndr...

A 24 year old gentleman presented following an episode where he became ‘sleepy’ and disorientated whilst driving and had to pull over. He was confused and lethargic and paramedics found blood glucose of 2 mmol/l. He gave a 3-week history of extreme lethargy, nausea, epigastric discomfort, blurring of vision and constant hunger. He denied recent weight changes and had no significant past medical/family history. Biochemical evaluation was as follows; Laboratory glucose...

Pituitary apoplexy is a rare but life threatening condition if not diagnosed and treated promptly. Common causes include hypertension, head trauma, major surgery, dynamic pituitary tests, anticoagulant use and pregnancy. In pregnancy, hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the lactotroph cells increase pituitary volume by 45% returning to original size at 6 months post-partum. Pituitary apoplexy is uncommon in pregnancy and an underlying adenoma is usually the cause. Very few...

Introduction: To assess outcome for patients with acromegaly treated at Royal Preston Hospital since 1st of January 2000.Results: Out of 22 patients (12 presenting in the last 2 years) 20 had endoscopic transsphenoidal hypophysectomy and two were managed medically. Headaches, visual disturbance and characteristic morphological features were the main presenting problems. 4 were microadenomas and 18 macroadenomas\. Exact dimensions were only available in 1...

The mammalian Forkhead Box O (FoxO) transcription factors, FoxO1, FoxO3a and FoxO4 are emerging as an important family of proteins that modulate the expression of genes involved in cell cycle regulation, induction of apoptosis, DNA damage repair and response to oxidative stress. Their transcriptional activity is tightly regulated by the action of several regulatory co-factors, and a series of post-translational modifications controlling a shuttling system, that confines them e...

The prokineticins (PK1 and PK2, also known as endocrine gland vascular endothelial growth factor [EG-VEGF] and Bv8 respectively), which bind to two closely homologous G-protein coupled receptors, PKR1 and PKR2, have been identified as novel angiogenic factors in endocrine tissue. However, little information is available on their expression and distribution in the uterus. The objectives of this study were to examine the expression and localisation of prokineticins and their rec...

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition resulting in insulin deficiency. Surveillance of other autoimmune disorders such as coeliac disease and hypothyroidism is common practice due to their higher co association. We describe a case of a 14 year old girl with 2 rarer autoimmune conditions; primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)Case summary: A 14 year old girl presented ...

Introduction: Diabetic Ketoacidosis is a life threatening emergency. BSPED has updated their guideline with changes in the fluid management (bolus dose for shock, de-escalate early use of inotropes, percentage dehydration in moderate DKA and maximum weight)Aims: To determine the clinical features and outcome of new presentations of DKA in 0–16 year age range and audit fluid managementM...

Pituitary gonadotropes (LH and FSH producing cells) are simultaneously exposed to numerous stimuli, which exert multiple signalling pathways that cross-talk with the GnRH receptor (GnRHR). A model downstream effector system is the prostanoid family. Hence, prostanoid receptors and GnRHR might cross-talk and affect the biological responses of the gonadotropes. Here we report the expression of prostaglandin (PG) PGE2 receptors EP1, EP2, EP3 and EP4, the PGF2</sub...