Endocrine Abstracts

Loss-of-function mutations in FGF8 in humans have been associated with Kallmann syndrome (KS), which is characterised by the combination of hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism with anosmia, suggesting that FGF8 is critical for GnRH neuronal development. Interestingly, hypomorphic Fgf8 mutant mice demonstrate poor telencephalic development with deletions of midbrain tissue, absence of olfactory bulbs and optic chiasm, and holoprosencephaly (HPE) with an abnormal corpus...

Understanding how fate choices are made by multipotent progenitors during pancreas development is valuable information in the quest for regenerative medicine and cell therapy to treat diabetes mellitus. Pancreatic differentiation is well defined and understood in rodents however, human data are comparably scarce. Specifically, when human pancreatic progenitors are multipotent is unknown as are the epigenetic changes that these cells undergo during their differentiation to beta...

This report presents a 44-year-old woman with ectopic ACTH-secreting pituitary adenoma located in the supradiaphragmal region. Patient presented with a classical clinical features of long lasting Cushing’s syndrome. She had right leg amputation because of peripheral macrovascular atherosclerosis, severe hypertension, non-regulated diabetes mellitus, hypokalemia and osteoporosis. Baseline tests were suggestive of ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome. Magnetic resonance i...

It is not surprising that mouse prostate gland is anatomically very similar to that in the rat, which consists of the ventral prostate (VP), dorsolateral prostate (DLP) and anterior prostate (AP). However, the basic biological function of the prostate, prostatic secretion, has been suggested to be diverse between the two species and yet poorly understood. We have identified major secreted proteins from separate prostate lobes of the mouse as well as the rat by mass spectrometr...

Glucocorticoids are known to have a role in the programming of appetite regulation but the mechanisms have not been fully delineated. This study examined the effect of maternal undernutrition on glucocorticoid receptor (GR) as a key regulator of the appetite regulating neuropeptides, proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the hypothalamus.Ewes were undernourished (UN, n=4) for 30 days pre- and 60 days post-mating or given normal fe...

Maternal undernutrition influences the development of diseases such as obesity and diabetes in the adult offspring. Programming of key genes involved in hypothalamic appetite regulation such as proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) may affect energy balance in adulthood. These changes may occur by alterations in gene expression or epigenetic changes including histone acetylation and DNA methylation. This study aims to examine the effects of maternal undernutritio...

Amphibia, through metamophosis, recapitulate the evolution of water homeostasis from aquatic life to terrestrial one. Whereas the tadpole has the status of a freshwater fish, the adult has developed a three osmoregulatory organ system, including kidney, bladder and skin, for facing terrestrial dehydration. Amphibia have differentiated epithelial hydroosmotic cells in each organ: principal cells in nephron collecting duct, granular cells in urinary bladder, principal cells in v...

Background: Hypothyroidism may profoundly alter mental function and influence mood and cognition, but the neural correlates of these impairments and of thyroid hormone treatment are not well understood.Methods: We prospectively studied 24 subjects, 14 previously untreated newly diagnosed hypothyroid patients (age 42±12 yrs; 11 female, 3 men) and 10 euthyroid control subjects (41±12 yrs). All patients underwent comprehensive neuropsychiatric ass...

By including the synthetic glucocorticoid (GC), dexamethasone, in the maternal drinking water on gestational days 16–19 (0.5 μg/ml) or days 1–7 after birth (1.0 μg/ml), we have recently demonstrated (McArthur et al. J. Neuroendocrinol. 17: 475) that perinatal exposure of rat pups to GCs increased dopaminergic (DA) cell numbers in the adult ventral tegmental area (VTA) at −5.1 to −5.4 mm relative to Bregma (level I). In order to investig...

Triple A syndrome is is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterised by achalasia, alacrima, adrenocorticotropin-resistant adrenal insufficiency and a variable and progressive neurological phenotype. The AAAS gene encodes a 60kD WD-repeat nuclear pore protein named ALADIN (alacrima, achalasia, adrenal insufficiency neurologic disorder); its function and tissue distribution are unknown. In this study we performed in situ hybridization with 35S end-labelled AAAS mRNA oligon...