Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Stroke is the second commonest reason of mortality worldwide and a major cause of long term disability. Early prediction of outcome is important for allocation of therapeutic strategies. Endocrine alterations of the hypothalamus–pituitary–axis (HPA) are one of the first stress-induced alterations after cerebral ischemia. We evaluated the prognostic value of cortisol for outcome in acute ischemic cerebrovascular events.Method: In an ...

The hinge region of the hTSHR links the extracellular LRR-domain with the transmembrane domain. Recently, we identified mutations E297A, E303A, and D382A in the hinge region with a cell surface expression comparable to the wt but with a strongly reduced bovine TSH (bTSH) binding. The combined triple mutation E297A/E303A/D382A revealed a cell surface expression comparable to the wt but in comparison to the single mutants a more pronounced reduction of bTSH binding (9% of the wt...

Background: Fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF21), which has recently been identified as a central regulator of metabolism, is known to be increased in conditions of obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver. Likewise, there is evidence that FGF21 increases with systemic inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether chronic low-grade inflammation might be the underlying mechanism and whether an anti-inflammatory treatment decreases FGF21 levels in metabolic diso...

Background: Interleukin (IL)-1 antagonism decreases systolic blood pressure in obese individuals. However, the underlying mechanism is unknown. Based on experimental data in animals we hypothesised a blood-pressure lowering effect of IL-1-antagonism via modulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS).Methods: In this post-hoc explorative study, we examined short- (2 days) and long-term effects (4 weeks) of IL-1 antagonism (anakinra/Kineret<...

Background: Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder in hospitalized patients with pneumonia. Different studies have shown an association of admission hyponatremia and worse in-hospital outcome, but no data are available about the impact of hyponatremia at discharge on outcome.Material and methods: Data from a double-blind randomized study including 725 patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia were analyzed. The primary aim of ...

Introduction: Hyponatremia due to excessive fluid intake (i.e. primary polydipsia (PP)) is common. It may culminate in profound hyponatremia – carrying considerable risk of morbidity. However, data on patients with PP leading to hyponatremia is largely lacking. Herein, we describe the characteristics of polydipsic patients hospitalised with profound hyponatremia, and assess one-year outcomes.Method: In this prospective observational study, we includ...

Zebrafish has emerged as an important vertebrate in vivo model to study human disease. Steroidogenesis in zebrafish is not well characterised. Human CYP11A1 (hCYP11A1) catalyses the first step of steroidogenesis, the conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone. Zebrafish Cyp11a1 (zCyp11a1) is essential during embryogenesis. Published data suggest that zCyp11a1 facilitates steroidogenesis in the interrenal (equivalent to mammalian adrenal), gonad and brain. We identified...

Background: Zebrafish is emerging as a comprehensive model system in endocrinology. Zebrafish synthesise steroid hormones in the interrenal (counterpart of the mammalian adrenal), gonad and brain. Data on steroidogenic pathways is patchy and steroidogenic enzymes in zebrafish have not been well characterised. Human 17α-hydroxylase (hCYP17A1) facilitates two conversion steps, 17α-hydroxylase and 17,20-lyase reactions in the adrenal and gonad. Two zCyp17a (zCyp17a1; zC...

Background: No randomized trials have been conducted in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) patients. Treatment recommendations for this rare but aggressive disease have been based on data from small phase II trials. We have now performed the first randomized phase III trial, comparing etoposide, doxorubicin, cisplatin, plus mitotane (EDP-M) against streptozotocin plus mitotane (Sz-M).Methods: Three-hundred and four chemotherapy-naive patients with ACC not am...

Objective: MODY5 is caused by abnormalities in the TCF2 gene encoding the transcription factor HNF1β. We investigated cases of MODY5 for the underlying type of TCF2 anomaly.Case presentations: From 623 children and adolescents with diabetes mellitus followed at our diabetes clinic in 2006, 64 were negative for islet cell autoantibodies (GAD, IA-2, ICA) within the first year of diagnosis and out of these, four patients presented clinica...