Endocrine Abstracts

Background – objective: Medullary thyroid carcinoma and hyperparathyroidism coexistence is well described in the literature. On the other hand, data regarding the coexistence of non-medullary thyroid cancer and hyperparathyroidism are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of such coexistence.Methods: This is a retrospective study of all patients with primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism who underwent parathyroidectomy in o...

Identification of pure neural androgenic effects is difficult due to 1) regional distribution of androgen receptors (AR) in the CNS; 2) cross-talk between molecular pathways of steroid hormone signalling, and 3) chemical nature and biotransformation of androgens in the CNS. Testosterone is transformed in the CNS by 5α-reductase and aromatase to the pure AR-agonist dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and the estrogen receptor-agonist estradiol, respectively. Decreased sexual activit...

The sustained over-secretion of PTH is a common clinical problem with particular consequences for the skeleton. Hyperparathyroidism (HPT) increases the bone surface undergoing remodelling, amplifies the negative balance at the bone multicellular unit and increases activation frequency, eroded surface and formation, without increased trabecular perforation. Cortical bone is particularly susceptible to the effects of hyperparathyroidism and bone mineral density (BMD) measurement...

Health care payers (governments or insurance plans) are increasingly challenging new health services, including medicines, to prove their value and several European countries have established agencies to help with this task. The example of NICE in England is one example but the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) offers another.In its first four years the SMC has considered 14 endocrinology products, accepting eleven for use (79%). Manufacturers submit e...

Pituitary folliculostellate (FS) cells were originally described in 1953 and comprise up to 10% of the anterior pituitary cell population. These epithelioid cells are thought to be derived from neuroectodermal cells and express S-100, a nervous tissue-selective protein that is used to define FS phenotype. Unlike their endocrine counterparts, they are devoid of secretory granules and were considered non-secretory until relatively recently. Experiments using pituitary slices hav...

ApoB isoforms are components of the chylomicron, and of the atherogenic LDL and Lp(a) particles. Ex26 is exceptionally long at 7.57kb as most exons are <500bp. Ex26 is also the site of RNA editing, which generates the ApoB48 isoform instead of ApoB100. The first 3kb of ex26 contains 15 sequences matching the splice site consensus, which could be used in splicing, but are not. Splice sites matching the consensus but which are not used are called pseudosites. How the spliceos...

Background. Males with coronary disease have lower levels of endogenous testosterone than unaffected males. It is not known if low testosterone is a cause, effect or an epi-phenomenon of ischaemic heart disease.We hypothesised that androgen deficient men treated surgically with complete resolution of their symptoms would have a higher subsequent testosterone than men with persistent angina.Methods. Subjects were recruited after angiography. All subjects were biochemically ...

Screening is a process of identifying apparently healthy people at increased risk of a disease or condition. They can then be offered appropriate treatment to reduce the risk arising from the disease or condition.Thyroid autoimmunity (TAI), defined by the presence of antibodies against thyroperoxidase and thyroglobulin, have been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, infertility, and impaired child neurodevelopment. However, associations do not nec...

Case history: A 26-year-old lady presented with a two-week history of weakness associated with pins and needles affecting the lateral calf and dorsomedial aspect of her left foot. The patient denied any trauma or symptoms including weight loss. She had no drug allergies and was taking no regular medications. She had a vegan diet supplemented with multivitamins. Her past medical and family history was unremarkable. On examination, she had a narrow-based high-steppage-gait. Lowe...

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a highly heterogeneous group of tumors that arise from the diffuse neuroendocrine system and whose incidence has increased over the last years. Among them, pancreatic NENs (PanNENs) are relatively common and one of the most studied NENs. PanNENs are characterized by a low number of mutations, with some genes frequently mutated, such as MEN1, ATRX/DAXX, and mTOR signaling pathway genes. Despite genomics, transcripto...