Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Blunt ocular trauma causes commotio retinae, a retinal opacification that accounts for over a third of all retinal injuries. Poor outcomes occur when the macula is affected, which accounts for 1/3 of cases and 3/4 cases in those at high injury risk, causing permanent visual loss due to selective photoreceptor death. This is seen in humans, and reproduced in our animal model, as loss of the outer nuclear layer (ONL) on histological and optical coherence tomography (...

Kallmann syndrome is a treatable form of male infertility caused by a congenital defect in the secretion or action of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH). It can permanently remit in around 10% of male cases. We report a patient with atypical Kallman’s syndrome who requires intermittent testosterone replacement to sustain activity of his gonadotrophic axis A 55 year old male presented with erectile dysfunction and decreased libido. He reported normal puberty, with no hi...

SB, a 54-year-old male, was diagnosed with NF1 aged 11 on the basis of multiple café au lait spots and neurofibromas. In 1991 he presented with diarrhoea and weightloss and investigations revealed a duodenal mass and suspected hepatic metastases. Somatostatin levels were elevated, and histology confirmed a duodenal somatostatinma following Whipple’s procedure in 1991. The hepatic metastases were excised with good results. At follow up, SB remained symptom free treate...

The spinal cord dorsal horn acts as a hub for the modulation of sensory information, relying heavily upon the interplay of a heterogenous cell population (endothelial cells, astrocytes) with sensory neurons. We have identified in rodent models of hyperglycemic neuropathic pain that spinal microvasculature is damaged. A pathological hallmark of chronic pain is astrogliosis, acting as a potent source of inflammatory response and impacting vessel integrity and sensory neuronal ac...

The modulation of pancreatic islet mass represents a novel therapeutic approach for the management of diabetes mellitus. G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) regulate beta-cell expansion and proliferation, and the objective of this study was to assess whether the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR), which is an abundantly expressed beta-cell GPCR, may influence islet mass and systemic glucose homeostasis, and thus represent an exploitable drug target in some forms of diabetes. We c...

Insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3) is a peptide hormone secreted exclusively in boys and men by the mature Leydig cells of the testes. It acts through a unique G-protein-coupled receptor, called RXFP2. In the female INSL3 regulates ovarian antral follicle growth. Whereas INSL3 in the male foetus is responsible for the first phase of testicular descent, in the adult it appears to support spermatogenesis and bone health. Importantly, it is...

Recent controversial studies in mice imply that TSH inhibits bone remodelling, suggesting TSH-deficiency rather than thyroid hormone excess causes bone loss in thyrotoxicosis. Measurement of the TRH-stimulated rise in TSH following three days administration of graded doses of T3 is the gold-standard for determining resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH). During this test, T3 excess coupled with suppressed TSH should induce high bone turnover, whilst administration of TRH causes a...

Autosomal Dominant Hypocalcaemia (ADH) type 1 is caused by activating mutations of the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) gene. Although a rare condition, the exact prevalence is uncertain as patients are asymptomatic and, historically, were sometimes diagnosed with hypoparathyroidism (HPT) due insensitivity of earlier PTH assays and failure to check urinary calcium. The consequences of an erroneous diagnosis of HPT in patients with ADH can be profound, as treatment with calcium ...

Background: The COVID19 pandemic greatly affected the delivery of outpatient clinics. Tier 3 specialist weight management services (SWMS) aim to help obese patients lose weight through holistic lifestyle modification delivered by a multidisciplinary team consisting of specialist physicians, dieticians, physiotherapists, psychologists, and support workers. Prior to the pandemic, the service was delivered mainly through in person consultations. The nature of the pandemic necessi...

A 47 year old lady referred to the endocrine clinic following raised prolactin levels picked up on investigation for infertility in 2013. She had irregular periods with cycle length up to 50 days. Peak prolactin following diagnosis was 1309mIU/l. She had no headaches, visual problems or galactorrhoea. An MRI head had picked up a 6.3 x 6.9 x 8.3mm right sided pituitary mass in 2013. She was commenced on Bromocriptine. Her periods normalised on treatment to 24 to 25 day cycles. ...