Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: To assess ET1 levels in diabetic patients with and without microangiopathy, and compared with normal subjects, nondiabetic, without underlying vascular pathology.Introduction: The pathophysiology of diabetic microangiopathy is complex and many important aspects of it still are not fully understood. Endothelial dysfunction is of major importance in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and diabetic angiopathy. ET-1 is one of the most potent vasoconstri...

Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is the tool of choice for evaluating thyroid nodules but there is a significant percentage of insufficient or indeterminate aspirates and falsely reassuring results have been reported in up to 6% of cases.We aimed to examine our experience with FNAB among a large cohort of unselected patients with thyroid nodules.239 consecutive patients (211 women) underwent FNA of a thyroid nodule between July...

Androgen therapy is the mainstay of treatment in female to male (FtM) transgender persons to increase testosterone levels, suppress oestrogens and treat gender dysphoria. Testosterone is widely used for male hypogonadism, but is comparatively under-investigated in FtM transgender persons. The aim of our study was to identify treatment and safety outcomes associated with testosterone use in transgender medicine. A literature search was conducted in PubMed/Medline, as well as EM...

Background: Transsphenoidal surgery is the primary therapy in majority of Acromegaly patients with GH-secreting somatotroph adenomas. Reported outcomes of surgery show an initial remission rate of 40–50% for macroadenomas and >85% for microadenomas. Rates of hypopituitarism following endoscopic pituitary decompression vary between 5 and 25%. Invasion of cavernous sinus indicates the tumour is unlikely to be resectable.Methods: We audited the res...

Hypothesis: Exogenous kisspeptin-10 (Kp10) enhances pulsatile LH. Research strategy: A first-in-man dosing study of kp10 was first performed. Healthy volunteers and hypogonadal patients were subsequently infused with kp10. Dose titration study Rapid increases in LH with clear dose-dependency (P<0.0001) were observed in healthy men (n=6), with the 0.3 and 1 µg/kg doses being maximally stimulatory (P<0.01). Effect of sex-steroid milieu: LH respo...

Transphenoidal surgery is an effective treatment option in patients with pituitary tumours associated with compression of the optic chiasm or hormone hypersecretion. Surgery carries with it a risk of the development of new pituitary hormone deficits but also the potential for recovery of existing pituitary hormone deficits. We have examined data concerning pituitary function in 80 patients who underwent endoscopic transphenoidal pituitary surgery at Royal Preston Hospital....

Background: Kisspeptin is a neuropeptide central to the regulation of gonadotrophin secretion but recent studies have suggested more diverse roles in human physiology. Kisspeptin is a potent inhibitor of tumour metastasis and plays a role in placentation, both processes involving angiogenesis. In addition, Kisspeptin and its receptor, GPR54, have been identified in human blood vessels including aorta, coronary artery and umbilical vein, where they mediate vasoconstriction. We,...

Oestrogen receptor (ER) activity has a wide spectrum of functions in the human body, including the development, growth and maintenance of the reproductive system. There are two ER subtypes, ERα and ERβ. The latter exists as multiple splice variants (ERβ1, ERβ2 and ERβ5) some of which lack a steroid ligand-binding domain. ERs act as steroid-ligand activated transcription factors. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) acting via the MAP kinase pathway has been s...

Aldosterone synthase and 11beta-hydroxylase catalyse the final steps of glucocorticoid (corticosterone) and mineralocorticoid (aldosterone) production in the rat adrenal cortex. They are encoded by the CYP11B2 and CYP11B2 genes respectively. Recent studies have shown that CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 are also expressed in the brain, the vascular system and the heart where it has been suggested that aldosterone influences cardiac function and plays a role in cardiac fibrosis. However, i...

Introduction: Sarcopenia, an age-associated loss of skeletal muscle mass and function, has been related to higher mortality in general population as well as in HIV-infected patients. In elderly, sarcopenia is a marker of frailty. The aim of our study was to describe the prevalence of sarcopenia and related factors in HIV-infected population.Methods: Skeletal muscle mass (SMM), total fat mass and body fat distribution were measured by DXA scan. Muscle mas...