Endocrine Abstracts

Glucocorticoids (cortisol in man, corticosterone in rodents) can inhibit angiogenesis, alter contractile function and reduce the inflammatory response to injury in the vascular wall. These effects are regulated by the 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (11HSDs) which inter-convert active glucocorticoids and their inactive 11-keto metabolites (cortisone; 11-dehydrocorticosterone) within target tissues. 11HSD2 is a unidirectional, exclusive dehydrogenase which inactivates gluc...

Hypothalamic regulation of the appetite and reproductive neuroendocrine axes is modulated by nutritional feedback from the periphery, potentially via shared mechanisms. Ghrelin is a recently identified orexigenic hormone secreted by the stomach that has been implicated in meal-time hunger, energy homeostasis and body weight regulation. In rodents, intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection acutely stimulates food intake and one study has shown that it can also transiently suppres...

Background: Accurate evaluation of growth is a key assessment of child health, in the UK use of a paper growth chart is currently standard practice. Our trust had a drive to become paper light thus there needed to be a way to store growth data electronically. Growth data is often incompletely documented. A previous review of children’s outpatient attendances at our hospital found that across medical, surgical and tertiary specialties only 33% of children had growth data d...

Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) is a glycoprotein which binds hormones such as testosterone. Around 97% of circulating testosterone is bound to SHBG and is therefore biologically unavailable; approximately 2–3% of testosterone is free or loosely bound to proteins such as albumin, and is biologically active, or bioavailable. Free testosterone is very technically challenging to quantify; in order to circumvent this problem, equations are used...

Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) is a glycoprotein which binds hormones such as testosterone. Around 97% of circulating testosterone is bound to SHBG and is therefore biologically unavailable; approximately 2–3% of testosterone is free or loosely bound to proteins such as albumin, and is biologically active, or bioavailable. Free testosterone is very technically challenging to quantify; in order to circumvent this problem, equations are used...

Lipodystrophy represents a broad spectrum of disorders, subdivided depending on aetiology (congenital or acquired) or the extent of adipose tissue absence (generalised or partial). A lack of adipose tissue results in systemic insulin resistance and ectopic fat deposition, which predisposes patients to metabolic syndrome and associated conditions such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and diabetes mellitus. Additionally, severe hyperinsulinaemia can generate ovarian androgen...

Background: Guidance on pubertal-induction in hypogonadal adult men is sparse. For adolescent boys, in whom delay is usually constitutional, treatment is typically initiated with pulsed low-dose IM testosterone (T); the dose being progressively increased if/when it becomes clear that endogenous gonadotrophin secretion is not being initiated. In teenagers with organic hypogonadism, the aims are to recapitulate the normal tempo of puberty over 2–3 years and optimise linear ...

Objective: Androsterone glucuronide (ADTG) concentrations have been suggested as a more reliable marker of the effects of androgens at the target tissue level and they are significantly elevated in hirsute compared to non-hirsute women with PCOS. This study compared the different precursors of testosterone, including dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), ADTG and androstenedione in non-obese compared to obese women with PCOS, and in normal subjects and their implications on...

Objective: Androsterone glucuronide (ADTG) concentrations have been suggested as a more reliable marker of the effects of androgen at the target tissue level and is significantly elevated in hirsute compared to non-hirsute women with PCOS. As the mechanism for hyperandrogenemia in obese and nonobese PCOS may differ, this study compares the different precursors of testosterone, including DHEAS, ADTG and androstenedione in nonobese compared to obese women with PCOS and their imp...

Introduction: Thyrotropin-producing adenomas (TSH-omas) constitute about 1% of pituitary adenomas. TSH-omas are a rare cause of hyperthyroidism. In conjunction with biochemical parameters and dynamic endocrine testing, image evaluation of the pituitary gland and sella turcica is mandatory for establishing a correct diagnosis. TSH-omas are usually large tumors and tend to be invasive. Greater amounts of invasion correlate with incomplete surgical removal of the tumor and, thus,...