Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Secondary hyperparathyroidism is a common complication of established renal failure (ERF) and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The aims of this study were to determine patient and operative characteristics, which might predict persistent or recurrent hyperparathyroidism after surgery. To assess the influence of pre-operative imaging on the ability to locate and remove parathyroid glands during both the initial and repeat surgery and to assess...

Background: Testosterone replacement therapy has been shown to produce a wide range of benefits for men with hypogonadism with studies showing improvement in libido, bone density, muscle mass, body composition, mood, cognition, and erythopoiesis. The risks associated with testosterone replacement therapy are less well characterised and there is a lack of larger randomised trials. One recognised risk is polycythaemia. The aim of this study is to assess the frequency of polycyth...

We present the case of a woman who first presented at age 18 with hirsutism. Menarche had been normal and she had regular menses. She gave no past medical history except that at age 6 she had been admitted to hospital with tonsillitis that was complicated by diarrhoea and vomiting, drowsiness and hypotension. At that time, Na+ was 130 mmol/l and K+5.8 mmol/l. She was treated with antibiotics and fluids and improved; electrolytes returned to normal.<p ...

GH influences multiple metabolic pathways. Excess GH (acromegaly) causes a distinct form of cardiomyopathy, which may progress to fulminant heart failure. AMPK is an energy conservation enzyme that modulates multiple areas of the cell stress response, inhibiting anabolism and promoting catabolism. AMPK is activated by phosphorylation at Thr172 and measurement of Thr172 phosphorylation is thought to correlate with enzyme activity. We investigated the influence of GH on cardiac ...

Parathyroid carcinoma is an uncommon cause of PTH-mediated hypercalcaemia, accounting for 0.5–5% of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. We describe a case of parathyroid carcinoma where the usual pre-operative features of this condition were absent, and hence diagnosed on histopathology.A 72-year-old woman was referred to endocrinology with incidentally noted hypercalcaemia. Past medical history included hypothyroidism and essential hypertens...

Objectives: Reducing length of inpatient stay following trans-sphenoidal pituitary adenectomy (TSA) could create significant financial saving for the NHS. We assessed early complication rates post-TSA to determine feasibility of early hospital discharge (3 days) post-TSA.Methods: We identified retrospectively 60 patients who underwent TSA at the John Radcliffe Hospital. These consisted of patients with a pre-operative confirmed diagnosis of non-functioni...

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) reduces thioredoxin in heart failure patients, whereas adrenomedullin, acting as an antioxidant, protects rat cardiomyocytes from infarction and mouse vascular smooth muscle cells from angiotensin II (AII) oxidative effect. Besides AII, aldosterone (Aldo) is also an activator of ROS. Aim of the study was the investigation of the eventual antioxidant effect of ANP...

Vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) differ from angiogenesis inhibitors by attacking established tumor blood vessels rather than preventing growth of new ones. We investigated effects of the tumor-VDA ASA404 against neuroendocrine tumors of the gastroenteropancreatic system (GEP-NETs) and adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) 24 h after treatment of BON and NCIh295 tumor bearing mice with ASA404 (A), paclitaxel (P) or the combined administration (A+P). A significant decrease in cell pr...

Background: Women affected by polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) frequently suffer from obesity, insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance. There is evidence showing an association of hypovitaminosis D with metabolic disturbances in PCOS women. We aimed to investigate the influence of vitamin D supplementation on metabolic and endocrine parameters in PCOS women.Design: Forty-eight women with PCOS were included in the study. Cholecalciferol was admi...

Introduction: Cushing’s disease (CD) is a rare condition, associated with significant morbidities and potentially fatal, if untreated.Objective: To assess the long-term morbidities in a large series of patients with CD during a prolonged follow-up period.Patients and methods: All subjects with CD who presented/followed-up in our Department between 01/1967 and 06/2009 were studied. All information was collected as documented in...