Endocrine Abstracts

More than twenty years after Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion, radionuclides are still mainly bound to the organic soil layers. Currently, the radiation exposure is dominated by the internal exposure to gamma-radiation following the decay of 137Cs, due to presence of 137Cs into the food chain. Because of this persistence of contamination with 137Cs, questions regarding public health for people living in contaminated areas were raised. Se...

Uranium is the heaviest naturally occurring element found in the Earth’s crust. It is an alpha-emitter radioactive element that present both radiotoxicant and chemotoxicant properties. Uranium is present in environment as a result of natural deposits and releases by human applications (mill tailings, nuclear industry and military army). Populations could thus be exposed to uranium either through their drinking water or the food chain.Natural uranium...

Introduction: MSC is a simple and reliable mean to diagnose hypercortisolism, yet its value to asses the outcome of treatment has rarely been addressed.Objective: Compare MSC and other classical parameters, to assess the outcome of TSS in CD.Patients and methods: Sixty-eight patients from a single Center operated for CD between 1996 and 2006. Outcome was assessed between 6–12 months post TSS. Remission was defined as: morning ...

Background: Insulin resistance and ageing are risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis. Insulin signalling in macrophages affects their inflammatory responses and foam cell formation capacity, yet the mechanisms linking these remain unclear. Recent evidence has emerged linking macrophage lipid metabolism and inflammatory response such as an interferon-cholesterol pathway flux axis. Insulin has been shown to directly regulate chol...

Introduction: Dysregulation of the insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF) system and particularly IGF-I and IGF binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity, diabetes mellitus and its complications such as cardiovascular disease and nephropathy, but relatively little is known about the genomics of the IGF system in health and disease.Methods: Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in the IGFBP-1 gene, in a r...

The hypothalamic peptide, cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) was originally reported to act as an anorexigenic peptide. However, we have recently shown that CART injection into the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC), acutely stimulates food intake. Here, we characterise the role of arcuate nucleus CART in the long term regulation of food intake and brown adipose tissue (BAT) using i) repeated intra-arcuate injection of CART peptide [CART(55-102)] and ii) polye...

Late effects of therapy can only become a meaningful concern, when the cure rate of the primary disorder is high enough to provide sufficient survivors. This happened for childhood cancer survivors around 50 years ago. The primary treatment modalities were surgery, radiotherapy, and combination chemotherapy. Amongst the most common treatment complications were dysfunction of the pituitary, thyroid, and gonad. The observation of gonadal damage and subsequent infertility led to ...

Maintenance of serum sodium and water balance is a key feature of normal physiology; mediated through the regulation of water intake and renal water loss. Adipsic and hypodipsic disorders are characterized by inadequate spontaneous fluid intake due to defects in osmo-regulated thirst. Patients deny thirst and do not drink, despite dehydration and hypovolaemia. The hypothalamic osmoregulation of thirst and Vasopressin (AVP) production are functionally linked, though anatomicall...

Diabetes Insipidus (DI) results from a relative or absolute deficiency in either the production or action of the posterior pituitary hormone Vasopressin (AVP), the principle endocrine regulator of renal water excretion. The challenges in DI encompass its diagnosis, its treatment and in managing the co-morbidities and complications of the condition. This presentation will cover all these elements, highlighting cases that illustrate some of the key principles in the clinical app...

One of the success stories of modern medicine is the high cure rate of common childhood cancers. After an early period of denial, the existence of longterm complications, predominantly treatment-related, is acknowledged. By 2010 one in 250 of the adult population was a longterm survivor of childhood cancer. In 2014 420,000 childhood cancer survivors were estimated in the USA alone. Subsequently Moustoufi-Moab et al. (2016) reviewed 14,000 survivors of childhood cancer...