Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Radioiodine ablation is an effective curative treatment for hyperthyroidism in virtually all patients with single or multiple doses. The dosage of radioiodine used in the treatment of thyrotoxicosis has varied widely according to local experience and practice. Administration of low doses could lead to inadequate or delayed response, while using larger doses is associated with the risk of increased incidence of hypothyroidism.Introduction: In ...

We present two cases of postmenopausal, gonadotrophin-dependent androgen excess.Case 1: A 59-year-old postmenopausal female presented with a 4-year history of hirsuitism and male pattern balding. Past medical history included Type II diabetes, hypertension, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Investigations revealed androgen excess (testosterone 8.9 nmol/l [ref range<2.5], free androgen index 31.8 [ref 0-7], androstenedione 13.7 nmol/l [ref<6.8], DH...

Background: Diabetic retinopathy is a frequent cause of vision loss in young adults. NICE guidelines require services to offer annual retinal screening to all diabetic children aged ≥12 years. A local 2009–2010 audit identified 57% underwent screening but only 16% had results documented with the paediatric diabetes service, both areas requiring improvement. In 2011, the paediatric diabetes service formulated a standard operating procedure with the eye-screening prog...

Impaired insulin action is a characteristic feature of type 2 diabetes and skeletal muscle is the principal tissue for peripheral glucose disposal. Aims: To determine if after prolonged culture human muscle cells from characterised type 2 diabetes patients have defects of insulin action compared to controls. Design: After attaining local Ethical Committee approval six compliant type 2 diabetic patients with severe clinical insulin resistance, on greater than 100 units of insul...

Impaired insulin action is a characteristic feature of type 2 diabetes and skeletal muscle is the principal tissue for peripheral glucose disposal. Aims: To determine if after prolonged culture human muscle cells from characterised type 2 diabetes patients have defects of insulin action compared to controls. Design: After attaining local Ethical Committee approval six compliant type 2 diabetic patients with severe clinical insulin resistance, on greater than 100 units of insul...

Regulators are concerned about the potential for environmental chemicals such as agrochemicals and their metabolites to perturb hormone systems. This has led to recommendations for the testing of potential endocrine disrupting chemicals1. The Steroidogenesis H295R assay is an in vitro cell model used to investigate compound effects on steroid hormone biosynthesis, specifically 17β-estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T). The human H295R adreno-carcinoma ce...

Kisspeptin is integral to hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis function and overall fertility. Functional deficiency of GnRH/lH secretion in the central reproductive disease, hypothalamic amenorrhoea (HA), indicates diminished kisspeptin signalling. Clinical trials have shown kisspeptin to be a viable therapeutic intervention. However, repeated administration led to the development of tachyphylaxis and so is likely a problem for future implementation. Indeed, elevated LH r...

Introduction: Two-thirds of metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients have RAI-resistant disease, resulting in poor prognosis and high disease-related mortality. Current studies of individualized therapy with different MAPK inhibitors report restoring RAI-avidity in 50 – 70% of BRAF and RAS mutated and thyroid cancers with no detected driver mutation. Five recent case reports of rare NTRK and RET-PTC fusion-positive metast...