Endocrine Abstracts

Maternal undernutrition influences the development of obesity and diabetes in the adult offspring. Previous work has shown that moderate maternal undernutrition may alter the stress–response of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis; however, it is not clear if this is the mechanism for consequent obesity in offspring.The aim of this study was to analyse epigenetic changes in the POMC and GR genes in the pituitary as markers of HPA ...

Reproduction is a very energy costly function for the organism and, therefore, very tightly regulated by central and peripheral cues that ultimately determine the proper pattern of kisspeptin and GnRH release. Among these, metabolic cues play a critical role in the control of reproductive function, through the interplay of satiety and hunger signals. Further, the interaction between reproductive and metabolic functions is bidirectional, as kisspeptin has also emerged as a nove...

Reproduction is an energy-demanding function. Accordingly, acquisition of reproductive capacity at puberty is metabolically gated, as a means to prevent fertility in conditions of energy insufficiency. In addition, obesity has been shown to impact the timing of puberty and may be among the causes for the earlier trends of pubertal age reported in various countries, especially in girls but probably also in boys. The metabolic control of puberty in such a spectrum of situations,...

The FGF signalling pathway regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and cell specification in mutliple developing and adult tissues. It has also been implicated in tumor development and progression with a significant role in the cancer pathobiology of several malignant tumors including melanoma, breast, pancreas, head and neck and non-small lung cell cancer. FGF signalling plays a major role in the postnatal hypothalamic-pituitary (HP) axis, with dysregulation ...

Primary hyperparathyroidism is a frequent endocrine disorder but intrathyroidal parathyroid adenoma is extremely rare. Combining cervical ultrasound and MIBI scintigraphy allows localizing most parathyroid adenomas. Because intrathyroidal parathyroid adenomas mimic thyroid nodules the diagnosis can be challenging, requiring eventually the realization of a fine-needle cyto-puncture. We report here a case of an intrathyroidal parathyroid adenoma diagnosed via a combination of ce...

Sexually dimorphic organogenesis of the prostate is a key function of androgens during mammalian development. Mesenchymal AR signalling is essential for prostate development, while epithelial AR is not required. Within the mesenchyme there are distinct mesenchymal subsets that show differential effects of androgens; androgens regulate the thickness of the urethral smooth muscle layer, while in the inductive mesenchymal pad, androgens stimulate branching and growth of prostate ...

Obesity is a primary healthcare challenge of the 21st century. Medications increasing the bioavailability of the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytriptamine; 5-HT) have historically been used for obesity treatment. 5-HT primarily influences appetite via action at the 5-HT2C receptor (5-HT2CR); the clinical significance of which has recently been realized with the launch of the 5-HT2CR agonist lorcaserin for obesity treatment in the USA. Efforts to delineate the underpinnin...

Background: Remote recurrence and metastasis are unusual complications in childhood-onset adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma mainly occurring either along a previous surgical route or by seeding via cerebrospinal fluid.Case description: An 11-year-old female patient initially presented with headache and neck pain as well as nausea over the course of 2 months. A sellar/suprasellar mass (4.0 cm×4.0 cm 5.0 cm) was detected on magnetic resonance imaging...

Drug addiction is a brain psychiatric disorder, whose etiology involves interaction of inherited predispositions and environmental factors. Addictive drugs share the properties of being self-administered by laboratory animals, and of activating the brain reward circuitry, which stems from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) where dopamine (DA) cells are located. These neurons are involved in neural processing contributing to drug addiction and DA plays a crucial role as learning ...

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) acts as both a peripheral incretin hormone and a central neuropeptide to regulate glucose and energy homeostasis. Within the brain, GLP1 is synthesised by a discrete collection of neurones in the brainstem, and presynaptic release of GLP1 results in binding to postsynaptic GLP1 receptors (GLP1R). The pattern of projections from these GLP1 synthesising neurones in the mouse brain has been described previously1,2. Here we use a novel tra...