Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Nelson’s syndrome is a significant long-term complication of bilateral adrenalectomy for Cushing’s disease. However, evidence about possible factors that can predict its occurrence, is controversial and limited.Objective: The objective of this analysis was to elucidate the role of various factors in prediction of Nelson’s syndrome and the extent of their modifying effect.Methods: All patients with Cushi...

Background: In a phase 3b, open-label study (NCT02354508) assessing efficacy and safety of long-acting pasireotide in patients with uncontrolled acromegaly after ≥3 months of treatment with first-generation SSAs, 18/123 (15%) patients achieved the primary endpoint of mean growth hormone (mGH) <1.0 μg/l and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) <ULN (upper limit of normal) at week 36. Here, we present the results from the extension phase of this study.<p c...

Introduction: Distal renal tubular acidosis (RTA) can have varied presentation. Onset in infancy is usually severe. However, adolescent onset has variable presentation ranging from hypokalemia to nephrocalcinosis, and rarely with rickets or growth retardation. We describe a girl with distal RTA presenting with hypokalemia and growth retardation.Case: 12 year old girl presented with recurrent episodes of weakness of all four limbs and failure to gain heig...

Introduction: We present a 5-year-old girl with thyroid hormone resistance, subsequently discovered to be heterozygous for TRβ mutation. This case highlights the necessity to investigate, in detail, all children with persistently high thyroxin with normal TSH levels in order to aid future management and the necessity to follow them up.Case report: SD was born at term by normal delivery weighing 3.34 kg (50th centile). She was referred at 6 months of...

The cyp19 encodes cytochrome P450aromatase, the key enzyme catalyzing the conversion of androgens to estrogens. Estrogens play a critical role in controlling functional, behavioral and physiological aspects of sexual development both in males and females. Except in Anguilla anguilla, most teleosts studied so far possess two cyp19 genes namely, cyp19a and cyp19b; ovary- and brain-specific respectively. In the present study made in tw...

Objective: Chorionic gonadotrophin (CG) is a hormone induced during terminal differentiation of trophoblast cells that significantly influences pregnancy outcome. The TGFβ superfamily SMAD2/3 pathway regulates placental function but the activity of the alternative pathway through SMAD1/5/8 in the placenta is unknown. This study investigated the role of BMP4 signalling through SMAD1/5 in terminal differentiation of primary chorionic gonadotrophin-secreting trophoblast cell...

Follistatin-like 3 (FSTL3) is a secreted glycoprotein known to act as an inhibitor of TGFβ ligands such as activin and myostatin. Like activin, FSTL3 is expressed strongly in the testis but the role FSTL3 plays in testis development and physiology is not clearly understood. Here we show that FSTL3 is a key regulator of testicular size and a promoter of age-dependent testicular regression. FSTL3 deletion in mice leads to the development of enlarged testes that show delayed...

A 60-year-old man underwent investigations for weight loss and abdominal pain. A CT thorax/abdomen revealed a 2 cm right adrenal nodule, 3 nodules in the left adrenal all <1.4 cm and a 5 mm lung nodule in the right middle lobe. The single phase CT was unable to characterize the adrenal lesions. MRI adrenal showed solid mixed signal pattern in the nodules with signal drop off in opposed phase series consistent with adenomata. Twenty-four hour urine catecholamines, cortisol,...

The bioavailability of activin, GDF11, and myostatin, members of the TGFβ superfamily, is regulated by the soluble antagonists follistatin (FST) and follistatin like-3 (FSTL3). Activin influences tissue fate determination and organogenesis in embryos as well as organ homeostasis in adults while myostatin decreases muscle mass in adults and GDF11 regulates pancreatic β-cell differentiation. In addition, the FST gene produces three protein forms (FST288, FST303, and FS...

Background: Adult hypopituitarism is associated with premature vascular mortality for which the underlying mechanisms are unknown but untreated GH deficiency is proposed as a potential contributor.Objectives: To characterise vascular risk, including paraoxonase-1 (PON1; an antioxidant enzyme which preserves LDL against oxidation), in adults with treated panhypopituitarism.Study subjects: The study had full ethics approval. Data are...