Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: The response of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis to stress is mediated mainly through corticotrophin-releasing hormone and vasopressin. Accordingly, vasopressin levels are increased in septic shock. However, measurement of vasopressin is difficult because of its instability and short half-life. Copeptin is a more stable peptide derived from the same precursor molecule. This study aims to evaluate copeptin levels and its prognostic value in a prospective observ...

Introduction: The incidence of water and electrolyte disturbances following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considerable and has been attributed to a dysregulation of the hypothalamic peptide arginine-vasopressin (AVP). Copeptin, the C-terminal part of the AVP prohormone, is stoichiometrically secreted together with mature AVP. Due to his long ex vivo stability, the AVP precursor, copeptin, can be used as a surrogate of AVP readily to be measured in serum or plasma. In ...

Oxytocin is a hormone and neurotransmitter with antiinflammatory and neuroimmune-modulatory properties. Physiological states of elevated plasma oxytocin levels are associated with reduced hypothalamic–pituitaty–adrenal response to different stressors. We examined the effect of exogenous oxytocin administration on bacterial endotoxin induced innate immune responses in humans. Ten healthy men received in a randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over design (1) placebo, ...

Aims: Elevated levels of neurotensin (NT), a neurotransmitter and postprandial secreted intestinal hormone, are associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and breast cancer. Here we studied the regulation of circulating pro-NT (a stable NT precursor fragment) by weight loss and dietary interventions.Methods: DiOGenes is a pan-European controlled dietary intervention study in overweight adults who first lost body weight on an 8-...

Introduction and Objectives: Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors derived from enterochromaffin tissue, mostly catecholamine-producing, adrenal gland (PCC) or extra-adrenal paraganglia (PGL). We were struck by the high incidence of these in our health care area, so we decided to study them. The aim of this work is to evaluate the clinical characteristics and epidemiological factors of patients diagnosed with PCC or PGL.Mate...

Diabetes which is not type 1 or type 2 makes up a very small proportion of all diabetes cases in children and adolescents. The value of recognising these is that treatment and outcome can be very different from that seen in type 1 or 2.Other forms of diabetes can be divided into several groups: 1. Genetic diabetes including MODY and neonatal diabetes. MODY can be confused with type 1 diabetes in children. Making the diagnosis can b...

Objective: Subclinical hypercortisolism (SH) has been associated with increased prevalence of hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, central obesity, osteoporosis and vertebral fractures. We aimed to investigate the accuracy of different SH diagnostic criteria in predicting the concomitant presence of these complications.Patiets: In this retrospective study we evaluated data of 231 patients (120 females and 111 males) affected with adrenal...

A 35year old man presented to the cardiology clinic with effort dyspnoea, palpitations and light-headedness. He had just returned from a 6 month “round the world’ trip during which he had suffered a diarrhoeal illness. An echocardiogram performed in Bangkok revealed left ventricular dilatation but no other significant changes. A diagnosis of possible myocarditis was entertained and he was treated with 2.5 mg of Ramipril and 75 mg of Aspirin. When seen in the cardiolo...