Endocrine Abstracts

Background and Aim: Use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) has moved from elite sports to the broader population. Studies suggest that AAS cessation is often associated with immediate various AAS withdrawal and hypogonadal symptoms. Quality of life using a standardized questionnaire has never been assessed in AAS users. The Short-Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire is a highly validated and used instrument for assessment of quality of life. The questionnaire consists of a total e...

Background: The growth hormone system (growth hormone, GH and insulin-like-growth-factor I, IGF-I) might be implicated in congestive heart failure (CHF). In experimental models IGF-I increases cardiac contractility and reduces apoptosis of myocytes exposed to ischemic injury. In clinical studies GH-therapy has been used in CHF. One previous population based investigation showed that low levels of IGF-I was associated with an increased incidence of CHF. The result of this inves...

Objective: Untreated overt hyperthyroidism is known to predispose the patient to cardiovascular diseases, while predisposition in subclinical hyperthyroidism has been debated. The1 cut-off point of TSH for initiating treatment in subclinical hyperthyroidism is still undefined.Method: A community-based prospective study including non-hospitalised participants, aged 51 to 91 years, living in Copenhagen, Denmark were examined between September 1998 and Janu...

Background and Aim: Ongoing anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) use has been linked with left ventricle dysfunction, while information on the effects years after discontinuation is limited. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism behind the impaired cardiac function is unknown. Early signs of cardiomyopathy, such as microvascular dysfunction with global or regional reduced myocardial perfusion can be measured noninvasively by cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) with Rubidi...

Background and Objective: Information on the long-term effects of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) use on the myocellular properties of human skeletal muscle is scarce, despite being the primary target of AAS. Animal studies suggest persistence of upregulated myonuclei numbers following AAS discontinuation. Few human studies have investigated the effects of AAS on human skeletal muscle cell morphology and exclusively focused on current AAS users. No data exist elucidating th...

Objective: The use of anabolic, androgenic steroids (AAS) to increase muscle mass and strength has become widespread among younger men engaged in recreational strength training. Although, repercussions exist for elite athletes with a ban of two to four years, the long-term effects on muscle mass following cessation are currently unknown. The present study aims to investigate previous users’ ability to retain lean mass and strength after long-term AAS cessation.<p clas...

Background: Patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI) exhibit increased morbidity, mortality and impaired quality of life (QoL) and conventional hydrocortisone replacement does not mimic the endogenous circadian pattern and may compromise adherence. A modified – release hydrocortisone formulation (Plenadren) for once-daily use is licensed in order to meet these needs.Objective: To audit the effects of treatment change from HC to Plenadren in an out-p...

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is according to the Rotterdam criteria defined as minimum two of: oligomenoré, hyperandrogenism and polycystic ovary. These criteria do not take into account PCOS’ association with the metabolic syndrome (MES) and ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Recently we grouped PCOS- patients into four phenotypes depending on normal/high BMI and insulin resistance (IR). We demonstrated that PCOS-patients with high BMI and increased IR h...

Objectivs: Plasma NT-proBNP is inversely associated with BMI in patients with heart failure (HF). A possible mechanism may be the lipolytic effect of natriuretic peptides on abdominal fat.Myostatin is previously described as a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass in cachexia.We assessed the hypothesis that body composition is related to plasma NT-proBNP and that myostatin levels are associated with loss of fat free mass (FFM)...

Introduction: The neurohormones A and B-type natriuretic peptides are markedly increased in patients with heart disease, and are well established as useful diagnostic biomarkers. Obesity is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Cross sectional data suggest however that plasma levels are reduced among obese. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of weight loss and corresponding changes in body composition on plasma levels of A and B-typ...