Endocrine Abstracts

The human somatostatin receptor 3 (hsst3) is expressed in about 50% of all neuroendocrine tumours. The sst3 receptor is unique among somatostatin receptors which can initiate apoptosis of tumour cells through activation of the tumour suppressor p53. Furthermore, treatment of the sst3 receptor with somatostatin or stable somatostatin analogues such as octreotide or pasireotide can inhibited tumour cell proliferation. However, at present little is known about the agonist-induced...

Introduction: Adolescence is recognised as a period where compliance to diabetes treatment is challenging and adolescents assume increasing responsibility for their diabetes self-management. In this study we investigated whether giving modest financial rewards motivated teenagers with type 1 diabetes to improve glycaemic control.Methods: Population; young people with type 1 diabetes, age 13–16 years at entry, duration of diabetes of >2 years and...

Objective: Generously supported by IPSEN)-->Abscesses in pituitary adenomas are rare. Continuous progression and haematogenous spread of infections are considered the main pathogenic mechanisms. A standard therapeutic regimen does not exist.Methods: We report on the case of a 56-year-old male who had been treated with cabergoline for a macroprolactinoma for 4.5 years. The patient presented to our emergency room...

The National Diabetes Paediatric Audit Report (NDPAR) 2009–10 was published earlier this year. A total of 155 units submitted data to the report, representing an overall increase of 31 units since the 2008–9 audit. Whilst non-participation has been largely attributed to lack of resources and technical infrastructure, there are some concerns over the method of data collection and interpretation.Our unit entered the data by using the automatic ex...

Exposure to maternal obesity or overfeeding during early development has lasting effects upon the young adult rat. Maternal cafeteria (CD) feeding during lactation programmes behaviour in the adult offspring, reducing anxiety in males and altering the behavioural satiety sequence in females. The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of early exposure to maternal over-nutrition upon bioactive amines in the brain. Lactating Wistar rats were fed either a control chow...

A 73-year-old man was referred to the general medical clinic with a 3-year history of shortness of breath and wheeze. During assessment he commented that over the same period he had also had intermittent sweats, flushing and redness of the face especially after eating and taking red wine. Echocardiogram and urinary 24-h 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were arranged. Surprisingly two of three urinary 24-h urinary 5-HIAA were positive (43 and 47.5 μmol/24 h and 30 &#956...

The short synacthen test (SST) is the first-line test of adrenal insufficiency. Different centres have varying protocols for cortisol response. At Derriford Hospital cortisol is measured at 0, 30 and 60 min post-synacthen 250 μg (i.m./i.v.). A normal response is judged with a measured cortisol >550 nmol/l.A recent national audit questioned the bias created by the discrepancy between true cortisol (measured by mass spectrometry) and many laborato...

Aims: In 2005 we defined a specific reference range for TSH in our pregnant population. We have assessed whether this has resulted in changed management of treated hypothyroidism in pregnant.Methods: The management of 73 mothers (Group 1) between January 2000 and July 2005 was compared to that of 67 mothers (Group 2) between August 2005 and December 2009. The upper limit of normal for TSH was 4.5 mU/l till July 2005; the specific TSH range defined for pr...

The distal nephron is the principal site for salt conservation in the body. Through its action on basolateral and apical membrane transporters, aldosterone regulates ion fluxes across the cells of the distal nephron. Aldosterone elicits physiological responses by modulating the expression of the transporter subunits; for example in the case of the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC) and Na+/K+-ATPase, and also through the expression of the regulatory...

Cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2α) catalyzes the hydrolysis of membrane glycerophospholipids to release arachidonic acid, which is converted to bio-active eicosanoid lipid mediators, including prostaglandins (like PGE2) produced through cyclo-oxygenases (COX). The eicosanoid signalling contributes to cell proliferation in breast cancer, as demonstrated by numerous studies outlining a crucial role of COX-2 and PGE2 in breast carcinoma progression. The specific ...