Endocrine Abstracts

A 52 year old lady presented with a history of weight loss, tachycardia and tremor. She was diagnosed with primary hyperthyroidism; TFTs were TSH <0.02 mU/l and FT4 >100 pmol/l, LFTs were mildly deranged (ALT 79 u/l, ALP 101 u/l). TSH receptor antibodies were positive, suggestive of Graves’ disease.The patient was started on carbimazole, initially at 10 mg TDS which was titrated down to 5 mg TDS. Repeat LFT showed ALP at 219 u/l and a fluctu...

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive neuroendocrine tumour that shows early metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy. Current biomarkers focus on prognosis and diagnosis but there is a need to find novel biomarkers, which could, for example, identify patients at risk of cerebral metastases.Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), the precursor of ACTH is a well-recognised biomarker of the ectopic ACTH syndrome1, of which SCLC is the most preval...

Background and aim: Androgens and glucocorticoids are regulated via the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, respectively. We aimed to check possible interference of androgen deprivation with the HPA axis and circulating glucocorticoid levels. Androgen deprivation is most widely used in the treatment of prostate cancer, but is also applied in gender-affirming care and males with hypersexual disorder. Current insig...

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive neuro-endocrine tumour with an abysmal prognosis. These cancers are characteristically resistant to glucocorticoid (Gc) action, and display glucocorticoid receptor (GR) abnormalities. We therefore selected model cell lines displaying reduced GR expression and Gc insensitivity as tractable in vitro systems in which to discover the effects of restored GR expression. GR fused to the yellow fluorescent protein, eYFP, was over-e...

Although glucocorticoids (Gc) are used to treat a range of pathologies, an individuals response to therapy varies considerably. There is a distinct correlation between certain cell types and steroid sensitivity. Aberrant glucocorticoid receptor (GR) function is well-characterised in lymphoid malignant cells but not small cell lung cancer (SCLC) (DMS79) or osteosarcoma (U2OS) cell lines, which are both Gc resistant.Previously we have shown reduced GR cont...

Thyroid dysfunction has been traditionally related to several lipid abnormalities. Indeed, even within the normal range of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) values, a linear increase in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides and a linear decrease in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels has been observed with increasing TSH. With respect to serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations, high, normal, or low valu...

Tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced adipose-related protein (TIARP)/six-transmembrane protein of prostate 2 (STAMP2) has been characterized as an adipocyte-expressed protein which might play a crucial role in metabolic homeostasis and inflammatory pathways. In the current study, the impact of insulin resistance-inducing and proinflammatory interleukin (IL)-1ß on TIARP/STAMP2 gene expression was determined by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain re...

Glucocorticoids (Gcs) act via the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) to inhibit proliferation of many epithelial cell types, and induce apoptosis in others, notably lymphoblastic leukemia. Resistance to Gcs occurs in human small cell lung cancer (SCLC), manifest clinically as dysregulated secretion of ACTH-related peptides. Currently nothing is known of the biological consequences such resistance causes. We have previously shown that a panel of human SCLC cell lines secrete ACTH rel...