Endocrine Abstracts

Insulinomas are rare neuroendocrine tumours with an estimated incidence of up to four new cases per mill./p.a. Most tumours are benign, <2 cm and arise from the islets of Langerhans.Typically patients present with Whipple’s triad: symptoms of hypoglycaemia, caused by fasting or exercise, low plasma glucose and symptoms relieved by Food. The diagnosis is confirmed by high insulin and c-peptide levels, inappropriately high for prevailing glucose.<...

Various psychiatric conditions have been associated with stress and alterations in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. Yet while stress is a general phenomenon, illness is only seen in a proportion of individuals, suggesting genetic modifiers of ability to cope with stress. 11-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (HSD1) regenerates corticosterone from inert 11-dehydrocorticosterone, amplifying the levels of glucocorticoids and is expressed in the brain. To deter...

Whilst surgery and external beam radiotherapy remain cornerstones of the management of acromegaly, recent guidelines have emphasised the importance of adjunctive medical therapy [e.g. with somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs), dopamine agonists, growth hormone (GH) receptor antagonists] in attaining 'safe' GH and insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels, especially in patients who are not 'cured' following primary intervention. Several studies have established the efficacy ...

Adverse events in utero permanently alter the structure and physiology of adult offspring, a phenomenon termed 'foetal programming'. In particular, low birth-weight is associated with an increased risk of adulthood hypertension. Glucocorticoid (GC) administration during pregnancy reduces offspring birth-weight and GCs directly elevate blood pressure (BP) in both humans and rodents. Circulating and local renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAAS) system(s) may be involved in programm...

A major limitation of nutritional science is the objective assessment of dietary intake in free-living populations. Monitoring individuals’ response to policy recommendations is based on self-reported dietary assessment tools, which are known to have high misreporting rates estimated at 30–88%. We have developed a novel analytical pipeline capable to classify people into consumers of a healthy or unhealthy diet based on urinary metabolic patterns, without relying on ...

Background: Primary aldosteronism (PA) accounts for a significant proportion of patients with hypertension. There has been a focus on ACTH in the pathogenesis of aldosterone secretion even with suppressed renin. With the link between psychological stress and cardiovascular disease as well as the association between anxiety and PA, there may be broader neurohormonal “stress” stimuli that modulate aldosterone production in PA patients, beyond the HPA axis. PA patients ...

A major limitation of nutritional science is the objective assessment of dietary intake in free-living populations. Monitoring individuals’ response to policy recommendations is based on self-reported dietary assessment tools, which are known to have high misreporting rates estimated at 30–88%. We have developed a novel analytical pipeline capable to classify people into consumers of a healthy or unhealthy diet based on urinary metabolic patterns, without relying on ...

Background: Primary aldosteronism (PA) accounts for a significant proportion of patients with hypertension. There has been a focus on ACTH in the pathogenesis of aldosterone secretion even with suppressed renin. With the link between psychological stress and cardiovascular disease as well as the association between anxiety and PA, there may be broader neurohormonal “stress” stimuli that modulate aldosterone production in PA patients, beyond the HPA axis. PA patients ...

Aim: Short Synacthen test has been widely used screening test for assessment of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). The most widely used is 30 min plasma cortisol Post synacthen. We have compared 30 min cortisol with 60 min for assessment of the HPA axis of patients with known endocrine disorders and on long term steroid, opiate use and obesity (non endocrine disorder).Method: Cortisol Response to 30 and 60 min post synacthen were measured in rando...

Bariatric surgery, in particular, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), is the most effective treatment for morbid obesity. The restricted gastric capacity and reduced absorption of nutrients cannot account for all the metabolic benefit we observe post-operation. Therefore, we applied metabolic and microbial profiling approach to investigate the potential mechanisms of RYGB surgery. Metabolic profiling strategy is widely applied in the discovery and development of metabolic biomark...