Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Acromegaly is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, however currect medical treatment controls the disease in <60% of patients. Pegvisomant, a pegylated GH antagonist, controls the disease in over 95% of cases, but is not cost effective as it requires high dose daily injections and has side-effects. We have developed a technology for generating a long acting potent GH antagonist.Hypothesis: That a GH antagonist fused to GH bi...

Patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) undergo parathyroid ultrasound, Tc-99 m sestamibi scan or MRI to localize hyperfunctioning parathyroid gland(s). When scans are negative or discordant we perform parathyroid hormone selective venous sampling (PTHSVS).We report the results of 17 patients (Four males, 13 females, average age 58.6) with PHPT, who underwent PTHSVS followed by either focused parathyroidectomy (FP) or bilateral neck exploration ...

A 54-year-old lady presented with malaise, weakness, and constipation. She was found to be mildly hypercalcaemia (adjusted calcium 2.68–2.76 mmol/l; reference range 2.12–2.60 mmol/l) and was referred to local endocrinology services. Her PTH was 79 ng/l (range 10–60) and a diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism was made. Imaging to localise a parathyroid source was negative. She was referred to the endocrine surgeons at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, ...

A 34-year-old male with two decades of gender identity issues considered gender reassignment and attended pre-orchidectomy sperm-banking when he was found to be azoospermic. He described a history of difficulty learning to play the piano and of deep-vein thrombosis at 19 years. He was 187 cm tall with a span of 189.7 cm, and exhibited L-sided undescended testis, R testis 1.8×2.5×3.7 cm, bilateral prominent gynaecomastia, a female body habitus, micropenis, bimanual sy...

A 51-year-old Afro-Caribbean lady with a history of primary hyperparathyroidism, type 2 diabetes and hypertension was admitted with confusion. Her medication at the time included five anti-hypertensives.She was treated for an infection but despite a long course of antibiotics she remained confused with visual hallucinations and aggression.She was noted to have resistant hypertension with systolic blood pressures over 220 mmHg and p...

According to the World Health Organisation iron deficiency is the most prevalent form of under-nutrition worldwide. Historically, the causes of iron deficiency were related principally to nutritional deficiencies and this remains a significant factor in many parts of the developing world. However, obesity is also a known cause of iron deficiency and is increasingly correlated with altered iron status and iron deficiency in affected individuals. As the obesity epidemic spreads ...

Quercetin and resveratrol, powerful antioxidants and blockers of intracellular mTOR signalling system, are widely distributed in edible plants. Their action on ovarian cell functions and the interrelationships with gonadotropin are studied insufficiently. We examined the effect of FSH, quercetin, resveratrol and their combinations on proliferation and apoptosis of cultured porcine ovarian granulosa cells. Accumulation of marker of proliferation (PCNA) and marker of apoptosis (...

Background: Early diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome and initiation of effective treatment are essential to limit long-term morbidity and early mortality. However, diagnosis is often delayed due to the non-specificity of symptoms, or because symptoms are not recognised by physicians, leading to more complex treatment needs and a worsening of patient quality of life. A survey was conducted to better understand the patient experience of Cushing’s syndrome and the true b...

Introduction: Low testosterone levels are found in up to 50% of male patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and acute illness is associated with further suppression of the central and peripheral gonadal axis. Testosterone supplementation in chronic stable COPD patients has yielded mixed results, demonstrating increased lean body mass, and improved exercise capacity in some studies, but not others. Use of anabolic steroids during acute illness has shown ben...

We previously showed acute hypoxic conditions result in atrophy of myotubes in vitro. Chronic hypoxic exposure in vivo induces muscular atrophy in healthy mountaineering individuals and patients with COPD. Myotubes in vitro increase myostatin expression in response to hypoxic exposure. Further, hypoxic COPD patients show cachexia and increased serum myostatin expression. However, in vivo results are cofounded by disease factors in COPD patie...