Endocrine Abstracts

A 65-year-old gentleman was referred by his GP because of acute kidney injury and hypercalcaemia, which was associated with low levels of parathyroid hormone. He had been fit and well and was on no regular medications. Whilst his hypercalcaemia was partly correctible with saline rehydration, cautious use of bisphosphonates and cinacalcet were not effective in preventing rebound, and his nephropathy persisted. Curiously, he had longstanding low plasma alkaline phosphatase, but had normal denti...

TSHR autoantibodies with stimulating (agonist) activity cause the hyperthyroidism of Graves’ disease, while the rarer blocking (antagonist) type TSHR autoantibodies are responsible for hypothyroidism in some patients. We have isolated four human monoclonal autoantibodies (MAbs) which bind the TSHR with high affinity. Two antibodies, M22 and K1-18 have potent thyroid stimulating activity, one MAb K1-70 has strong antagonist (blocking) activity and the fourth MAb 5C9 has st...

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP) is a common endocrine condition. The associated metabolic abnormalities are usually amenable to surgical treatment (PTX). Although it is generally believed that such treatment will reduce the risk of long-term complications this has not been demonstrated in a clinical trial and the current treatment guidelines are based on consensus. In order to assess the effect of parathyroidectomy on two of the most common complications of PHP, renal stones...

Hypoparathyroidism, a rare endocrine disorder of insufficient parathyroid hormone, leads to hypocalcemia and often hyperphosphatemia. The PARADOX study assessed the clinical and personal disease impact from the affected patients’ perspective.Patients ≥18 years and diagnosed ≥6 months ago completed a non-validated, self-reported, web-based survey.Three hundred and seventy-four US adults (mean age, 49 years; women, 8...

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an aggressive cancer, with, in its advanced stages, a median 5-year survival rate of less than 15%. ACC is rare in humans, but in dogs the incidence is at least 100 times higher. Because these dogs receive medical care, have an intact immune system, and have inter-individual and intratumoral heterogeneity, the dog is a unique spontaneous animal model to study new treatment options for ACC. However, to determine similarity of canine and human A...

Introduction: Insulin is widely used in Type 2 patients to control the blood sugar when the oral hypoglycaemic agents fail. This is a case report of a type 2 diabetes patient who developed Myocardial Infarction after factitious hypoglycaemia with insulin.Case report: A 64-year-old gentleman with known Ischaemic Heart Disease was treated with insulin (Mixtard 30) and metformin for his type 2 diabetes. He presented to diabetes Specialist nurse with persist...

Objectives: TSH receptor (TSHR) autoantibodies (TRAb) which mimic the actions of TSH are responsible for hyperthyroidism in Graves’ disease (GD) which is often associated with Graves’ orbitopathy (GO). K1-70 is a TSHR specific human monoclonal autoantibody which binds to the TSHR with high affinity and prevents stimulation of the TSHR by TSH and TRAb. Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic, pharmocodynamic and immunogenic effects of K1-70 in patients with GD were asse...

Clin Endocrinology (Oxf), 2022, 96, 878-887 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.14681): ...

Approximately 70% of clinical laboratories in the United Kingdom use assays from Abbott Laboratories and Roche Diagnostics. We carried out a cross-sectional study between two neighbouring hospital laboratories in our regional pathology network, comparing the potential impact of Abbott and Roche PTH and calcium assays in the diagnosis of normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism. Over 4 months, forty-one vitamin D replete (>50 nmol/l) normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism patients (3...

Introduction: The (GH) gene, identical to that in the pituitary, is expressed in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in chickens, rats, mice and humans. Retinal GH is a neuroprotective factor, as it promotes RGC survival and, in humans, the concentration of GH in vitreous fluid may be a marker for ocular disease. Increasing retinal GH expression could thus have therapeutic potential. The factors regulating retinal GH expression are, however, unknown. The possibility that GH-releasin...