Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Plasma cell neoplasms include a variety of clinicopathologic entities including; multiple myeloma, solitary plasmacytoma of bone and extramedullary plasmacytoma. Plasma cell neoplasms of the pituitary area are very rare, with only 19 cases in the literature. We report a rare case of multiple myeloma presenting with parasellar mass.Case: A 44-year-old lady was admitted with sudden onset of diplopia and blurring of vision. She also mentioned ...

PBEF/Visfatin is an adipokine highly enriched in adipose tissue which is increased in obesity and has been shown to be involved in numerous physiological processes. The adrenal gland plays a pivotal role in the integration of metabolic activity and energy balance, through production of steroids, mainly glucocorticoids. Steroidogenesis is a tightly controlled and essential process, which is mediated by steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), a protein that transports cho...

Orexin-A and orexin-B orchestrate their diverse central and peripheral effects via two G-protein coupled receptors, orexin-1 receptor (OX1R) and OX2R, which activate multiple G-proteins. In many tissues, orexins activate MAPKs, however, the mechanism by which OX2R alone mediates MAPK activation is not understood. We studied the intracellular signaling mechanisms involved in OX2R-mediated ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK activation. In HEK-293 cells stably over-expressing recombi...

Aim: Cardiovascular disease is more common in individuals with diabetes mellitus and obesity. Visfatin is elevated in obesity and T2DM; and thought to be an inflammatory mediator within atherosclerotic lesions inducing gelatinase activity, contributing to plaque destabilisation. We investigated the activation of NF-κB, a well-known pro-inflammatory transcription factor, by visfatin, in Human Endothelial Cells (EC).Research design and methods: We sta...

Introduction: Leptin and adiponectin have opposing properties and are implicated as molecular mediators between obesity and (aggressive) prostate cancer. Adiponectin, circulates inversely proportional to visceral fat accumulation, and has demonstrated anti-proliferative effects in prostate cancer cells; circulating leptin levels increase with visceral fat accumulation and has shown mitogenic effects. We propose that adiponectin and leptin interact in prostate cancer cell growt...

Introduction: Visfatin/PBEF is a novel adipokine circulating inversely proportional to visceral fat mass and exerts insulin-mimetic effects; it is expressed in normal, inflamed and tumour tissues. Visfatin/PBEF has also been identified as NMPRTase, a key intracellular enzyme involved in NAD+ metabolism, replenishing NAD+ during cellular respiration. Inhibition of NMPRTase by the anti-cancer agent FK866 has been shown to induce apoptosis in tumours. Prosta...

Background, subjects & methods: Dexamethasone increases visfatin synthesis in vitro, but it is not clear, whether it is reflected in the changes of serum levels of this cytokine. We have therefore assessed fasting serum concentrations of visfatin, glucose, insulin and cortisol in 20 subjects (4 males, 5 subjects with type 2 diabetes) age (mean±S.D.) 42.1±17.2 years, BMI 36,7±8.38 kg/m2 before and after 48 hours of administrat...

Background, subjects & methods: Visfatin, also known as pre-B cell colony enhancing factor (PBEF), is a cytokine that is highly expressed in visceral fat, and exerts insulin-mimicking effects in rodents through activation of an insulin receptor, though in a manner distinct from insulin. Visfatin levels do not change in response to acute hyperinsulinaemia in mice, but it is not clear whether this also applies to humans. In order to investigate this we measured serum visfati...

Obesity is a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Adiponectin, a 30 kDa peptide secreted from adipocytes has been shown to be anti-atherogenic, and anti-inflammatory, as well as affecting insulin resistance and pancreatic beta-cell function. This study investigated the levels of expression of the adiponectin receptor subtypes 1 and 2 (AdR-1 and AdR-2) and regulation of their expression in the pancreatic BRIN-BD11 beta-cells line. Cells were cultured in R...

Orexin-A (OR-A) and orexin-B (OR-B) play an important role in the regulation of energy balance and the control of sleep-wake cycle. They act via G-protein coupled receptors, namely orexin receptor-1 (OX1R) and orexin receptor-2 (OX2R). OX2R has equal affinity for both OR-A and OR-B, whilst OX1R has a 10-fold greater affinity for OR-A. Orexin-mediated functions have been extensively explored, however, the intracellular signalling pathways remain poorly understood. Using HEK-293...