Endocrine Abstracts

Thyroid function changes with advancing age, however there is little good quality data available that characterises the extent of thyroid disease in the elderly, or the parameters of normal thyroid function in the ‘oldest old’. Reference ranges for serum TSH and free thyroid hormones based on unselected younger adults are currently applied uniformly to older individuals.The Newcastle 85+ study has collected health and lifestyle information from...

The mechanism by which the thionamide antithyroid drugs produce long-term remission of Graves’ hyperthyroidism is unknown. We wished to explore the hypothesis that methimazole (MMI) could induce a structural change in thyroid peroxidase (TPO), such that its major (immunodominant) epitope(s) was no longer recognised by circulating anti-TPO antibodies.An enzymatically active membrane preparation of a CHO cell-line stably transfected with human TPO was...

Background: There is evidence to suggest an association between hypothyroidism (overt and subclinical) and cardiovascular disease. It is unclear whether the set-point of the thyroid axis, within the normal range, may be related to vascular risk.Methods: We have reanalysed the data from the original Whickham study to assess BP in the entire cohort and its relationship to serum TSH within the reference range (0.3–6.0 mIU/L). Multivariate stepwise line...

Maternal cold exposure induced by winter shearing promotes fetal growth, particularly that of the liver by increasing maternal glucose supply to the fetus. A major component of the fetal liver is glycogen which is rapidly mobilized at birth in order to provide an endogenous energy source. Hepatic glyocgen content is regulated in part by the lipid activated transcription factor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), whilst insulin-like growth factor (IG...

Fetal adipose tissue growth is a coordinated process involving the growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor (GH-IGF) axis. Maternal cold exposure (CE) induced by winter shearing can promote fetal fat growth depending on maternal food. The following study examined the interaction between maternal CE and dietary intake on the mRNA abundance for the endogenous ligand of the GH secretagogue receptor (GHSR-1a), the IGF-I and II receptors and the enzyme glycerol-3-phosphatase (G3P)...

IGF-II and I are key components of postnatal growth and are involved in the proliferation of adipocytes. Cold exposure by winter shearing has been shown to promote growth and development and is dependant upon maternal nutrition. However, the effects on adipose IGF-I and II mRNA have not yet been determined.Thirty-three multiparous ewes of similar body weight were entered into the study, fifteen were shorn (S) during mid gestation and eighteen left unshor...

Ghrelin is a recently discovered endogenous ligand of the Growth Hormone (GH) secretagogue receptor, and is primarily produced by the stomach. Ghrelin acts on the hypothalamic-pituitary axis to stimulate GH release and may determine hepatic sensitivity of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) to GH. Maternal chronic cold exposure by winter shearing has shown to increase lamb birth weight, however, the effects on Ghrelin are not yet known.Twenty-six multip...

Introduction: Prolactin (PRL) acting through its receptor may play a role in regulating fetal BAT development. Chronic administration of prolactin to the dam throughout pregnancy enhances the maturation of BAT with the resulting offspring having more UCP-1 suggesting a direct role in switching on UCP1 at birth. The present study aimed to determine the effect of PRL on UCP-1 expression postnatally.Methods: Twenty seven female and twenty four male rats wer...

Introduction: Transition from child to adult healthcare is a period of vulnerability for young people with diabetes. We hypothesised that patient satisfaction with services and patient wellbeing would be positively associated with a satisfactory clinical progression.Methods: We included data from 150 young people recruited in 2012 to a longitudinal study of transition (http:research.ncl.ac.uk/transition). Young people’s satisfaction with services (&...

Introduction: Iodine is important for thyroid hormone synthesis, and iodine deficiency in pregnancy may impair foetal neurological development. Perchlorate, found in some foods and everyday chemicals (e.g. fertilisers) and thiocyanate, which is found in cigarette smoke, decrease the transport of iodine from the circulation to the thyroid cells by inhibiting the sodium-iodide symporter. Environmental exposure to these substances during pregnancy may result in reduced thyroid ho...