Endocrine Abstracts

The presence of thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) is a marker of autoimmune thyroid disease and, when present in early pregnancy, is predictive of postpartum thyroiditis. In the course of undertaking the Controlled Antenatal Thyroid Screening Study we have taken the opportunity to measure TPOAb in a large number of samples from 11–16 weeks gestation by 3 different assays.The assays were (1) an in-house ELISA; (2) Bayer ADVIA Centaur anti-TPO ass...

Cellular replacement therapy has already shown clinical efficacy in human patients with Parkinson's' and Huntington's diseases. However, this currently relies on a continuous supply of tissue from early first trimester human foetuses and therefore it will be difficult to translate into a widespread therapy. Neural stem cells are self-renewing cells found in both the developing and adult nervous system that can be expanded ex vivo in defined medium and differentiated into all t...

The role of oestrogens on the regulation of human hair growth is poorly understood. Using whole human scalp hair follicle organ culture, we have recently demonstrated, that human hair growth is inhibited by 17beta-oestradiol, but not by the biologically inactive isomer 17alpha-oestradiol. Using immunohistochemistry, we have also demonstrated the presence of both ERalpha and ERbeta in the pilosebaceous unit and the dermal papilla, a mesenchymal structure that controls the diffe...

Radioidine (RI) has been implicated as an adverse factor causing deterioration of Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy (TAO). Oral steroids administered after RI appear to protect patients' eyes, and this practice is now widespread. Two factors may confound the controversy surrounding the effects of RI on TAO. Firstly hypothyroidism, which is common after RI and is independently detrimental to the eyes, and secondly studying patients who are in different phases of the natural his...

Hypercalcaemia is a prevalent complication in malignancies as a consequence of tumor secretion of parathyroid hormone related peptide (PTHrP). This complication is also associated with ovarian dysgerminomas but is much less common than for other tumours. To investigate this further we have studied 10 cases of dysgerminoma, assessing biochemical parameters and analysing mRNA and protein expression in tissue biopsies. Pathological reports show raised serum calcium and 1,25(OH)<s...

Ghrelin, the natural ligand for the GHS-R, modulates proliferation in cell lines derived from malignant breast tissue. It has been suggested that this action is independent of the GHS-R. We have previously demonstrated that MCF7 cells expressed ghrelin but not GHS-R mRNA and MDA-MB231 cells expressed GHS-R but not ghrelin mRNA. To determine whether ghrelin modulates proliferation in MCF7 and MDA-MB231 cells we performed proliferation assays treating with saline, 1 and 10nM ghr...

The role of the intra-ovarian insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system in preantral follicle development is unclear. Here we have examined the expression of mRNA for insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IGF-2, Type 1-IGF receptor, Type 2-IGF receptor and insulin receptor (IR) in human pre-antral follicles at different stages. Ovarian cortex biopsies (5mm3) were obtained (with informed consent) during gynaecological surgery from six women (age 32.2 plus/minus SD 2.2,...

A South Asian woman aged 44 years presented with longstanding hirsutism. Her periods had always been regular and she had two children. She had been treated with spironolactone and Dianette without clinical benefit and the hirsutism was managed cosmetically. Investigations showed a high serum testosterone of 6.1 nmol/l ( 1-3nmol/l) and androstenedione 25nmol/l (2-10nmol/l). Serum sex hormone binding globulin was elevated at 96 nmol/l (23-85nmol/l), with normal DHEA sulphate, 4....

Introduction: In total of 5α-reductase 2 is vital in sexual development of male foetus; its deficiency causes impaired virilisation due to defective conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone and is an important cause of Disorders of Sexual Development (DSD). We report 3 cases of severe primary acquired auto-immune hypothyroidism, which show a similar picture of 5α-reductase deficiency (5ARD) on urine steroid profile (USP) and reversible following adequate thy...

Background: Resection of the adrenal gland is a challenging intervention that requires close endocrinological supervision for the correct assessment of hormones to minimise complications peri-operatively (peri-op) and post-operatively (post-op).Objectives: This study assessed the function of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis and the related management according to underlying adrenal disorders.Methods: We reviewed 16...