Endocrine Abstracts

The differential diagnosis of post-partum thyrotoxicosis includes Graves' disease and post-partum thyroiditis(PPT). We present two cases which demonstrate the difficulty of interpreting 99mTc-pertechnetate scans in this setting. Case 1 is a 37 year-old lady who presented 5 months post-partum with a month history of palpitations, sweating and heat intolerance. Investigations revealed TSH < 0.01 mU/L, fT3 8.9 pmol/L (NR 10.5-22.7 pmol/L) and fT4 23.4 pmol/L (NR 3.5-6.5 pmol/)...

Type 2 diabetes is associated with insulin resistance, failure to suppress lipolysis and EGP and impaired FFA. It is not known which defect develops first.Eleven European women with previous gestational diabetes (PGDM) and normal glucose tolerance post-partum, as a high risk group for the development of Type 2 diabetes, and 11 matched controls (BMI 23.8±4.5 kg m-2 versus 24.6±4.9 kg m-2 respectively) were studied. Insu...

BackgroundSomatostatin (sst) acts via a series of 5 G-coupled receptors (sstr1-5) which control exocrine and endocrine secretions and also regulate cellular proliferation and apoptosis in many parts of the body. Recent experimental data suggests that sst plays a roles in ovarian function and the synthetic sstr agonists octreotide has been used in the treatment of polycystic ovarian syndrome. We have investigated the expression of somatostatin receptors (...

Lipocortin 1 (LC1) is a well-characterized anti-inflammatory, -anti mitotic and anti-proliferative member of a structurally related family of Ca2+ and phospholipid-binding proteins. LC1 is readily detectable in the neuroendocrine system by Western blot analysis, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry (1). In these tissues, glucocorticoids regulate both the expression and subcellular distribution of LC1. Other studies have also demonstrated the presence of LC1 in endometrium tissue th...

Background. Abnormal lipoprotein composition associated with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) may contribute to increased mortality observed in conventionally replaced hypopituitarism. Aim. To examine the effects of forty weeks of growth hormone replacement (GHR) on lipoprotein composition and LDL size in sixteen GHD hypopituitary subjects. In eight patients, VLDL and LDL composition were additionally assessed after eight weeks. Methods. VLDL and LDL were separated by different...

Members of a hospital staff (n=332) were invited to complete a survey outlining dietary and lifestyle behaviour, and indicate if they were interested in a weight management programme. Height and weight were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated, in all respondents.Two hundred and sixty (78%) staff members responded, 60 males (23.1%) and 200 females (76.9%). The mean age of respondents was 36.5 yrs (35.8yrs males, 36.7yrs female). The mean bo...

Leptin is a crucial hormone in the regulation of body weight. It is produced by adipose tissue and acts centrally decreasing appetite and increasing energy expenditure. Leptin has been shown to stimulate sympathetic nervous system activity in vitro although the physiological relevance of this remains unclear. Increased sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity has been implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and a greatly increased cardiovascular risk. We have the...

BackgroundWhilst hydrocortisone is standard glucocorticoid replacement therapy in patients with adrenal insufficiency, some have considered prednisolone an alternative. Some data have shown diabetes and osteoporosis risk. Mortality of patients using prednisolone in relation with those using hydrocortisone is not known. We compared all-cause mortality risk compared to matched controls in patients with primary or secondary adrenal insufficiency using predn...

BackgroundIncreased mortality risk of patients with adrenal insufficiency has been inconsistently reported. This might have resulted from the disparity of time and place of clinical care between the study patients and reference population. Also, data of patients with secondary adrenal insufficiency was limited as majority focused on other types of pituitary disorders. Therefore, we compared all-cause mortality of patients with primary and secondary adren...

BackgroundThyrotoxicosis with Graves’ Disease is treated with thionamide, radio-iodine treatment and thyroidectomy. Surgery is an important choice, especially when Graves’ Disease is complicated by thyroid orbitopathy. Pre- and post-operative protocols for thyroidectomy are imperative.Aims1) To assess pre-operative preparation of patients, with potassium iodide, vitamin D, beta blockade, and the pre...