Endocrine Abstracts

The transition to the postmenopausal stage is associated with an increased risk for vascular diseases, including myocardial infarction and stroke. This has been linked to a decrease in estrogen production. Estrogens mediate their effects on the brain to a major extent through binding to nuclear receptors, estrogen receptor alpha and beta. It is possible that positive and adverse effects of estrogens are related to interactions between receptor genotypes and hormones. Notably, ...

Chemical contaminants from human activity are omnipresent in the environment. A great number of common industrial compounds are detected in human blood and urine. Common chemicals such as bisphenols, phthalates and parabens that can interfere with endocrine signaling are classified as endocrine disruptive compounds (EDCs). The sex steroid hormonal signaling pathway is complex and sensitive to interference, as circulating concentrations of these hormones are low. Even miniscule...

Thyroid disease during pregnancy is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and suboptimal fetal development. During the last decades, guidelines for diagnosing thyroid disease during pregnancy have changed considerably, and there has been increased awareness. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of thyroid disease treatment over time among pregnant women in Norway. We combined historical data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway and the Norwegian Prescription D...

Background: Many studies in Norway have found inadequate iodine status in pregnant and lactating women, but no studies have been undertaken in a random, population-based sample. Globally, the main strategy to eliminate iodine deficiency is iodization of salt. However, this is not compulsory in Norway, where the current legislation only permits iodization up to 5 μg per gram of salt. To reach the Nordic Nutrition Recommendation (NNR) of 200 μg/day iodine, supplements ...

Context: Estrogens may have protective properties in the cardiovascular system, linked to the activation of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), present in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and endothelial cells (ECs). ERα-mediated signaling regulates vasodilatation and atherogenesis, and since hypertension and atherosclerosis are major mechanisms in stroke development, we hypothesized that genetic variations in the ERα gene (ESR1) were associated with strok...

Improvements in real-time intravital imaging techniques and two-photon microscopy make it now possible to visualize the complex tumor microenvironment in vivo, over time and deeply within intact tissues. Using dynamic imaging, we addressed central aspects of tumor progression, including dynamic interactions of invading tumor cells with the tumor microenvironment and the local regulation of tumor infiltrating immune cells in eradicating tumor cells.<p class="abstext"...

Introduction: Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) integrity in plasma has been investigated as a non-invasive marker in cancer. Thyroid cancer the most common endocrine malignancy sometimes presents as indeterminate nodules and difficult to diagnose without histopathology.Aim of the study: The present study aims to test the hypothesis that the presence of longer DNA strands circulating in plasma can be considered a marker for thyroid cancer.Meth...

Pituitary adenomas (PA) are benign tumors that develop in pituitary gland. Hormone secreting PA can cause overproduction of pituitary hormones leading to different systemic endocrine disorders (acromegaly, Cushing’s disease and others). Non-secreting PA can promote headaches (stretching of the dural sheath) and visual field defects (chiasma compression). We managed to obtain resected tumor samples from the patient having non-secreting PA, first tumor was resected in 2010,...

Obtaining research independence and running your own research group can seem very far away at the end of your PhD and during your early postdoctoral career. However, starter grants are an invaluable resource to help you down this path, allowing you to develop and strengthen your research career, pursue independent strands of research, improve your ability to write grants and make you more competitive to obtain more substantial funding.Starter grants are ...

The insulin signalling system including the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase (IRTK) is evolutionarily ancient and appears in the first multicellular organisms (Cnidarians). The Drosophila melanogaster genome contains seven genes for insulin-like peptides (ILPs) that are expressed in neurosecretory cells in a highly tissue- and stage-specific pattern, DILP1-7. There is however only one IRTK (dIR). This system is important in the regulation of metabolism, growth, reprod...