Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Recent NPDA 15/16 data shows that nationally 17.9% of children and young people (CYP) with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) have a HbA1c level >80 mol/mol (7.9% at Nottingham Children’s Hospital (NCH)), putting them at increased risk of diabetic ketoacidosis and long-term sequelae. To support patients on the high HbA1c pathway (>80 mmol/mol) at NCH, a 5-day inpatient stay for stabilisation is offered. The process involves daily re-education from paediat...

Introduction: Carcinoma of the adrenal cortex (ACC) is a rare disease with an estimated incidence of 1–2 per 1 million population. Optimal treatment of ACC is multidisciplinary and has complex aspects such as adrenal surgery, adjuvant therapy with mitotane and cytotoxic chemotherapy in advanced stages. The Dutch Adrenal Network (DAN), a collaboration between all university centers and Máxima Medical Center, was founded with the objective of improving patient care and...

Specific ablation of the androgen receptor (AR) in selected target cells prevents the major developmental defects inherent to generalised AR inactivation (Tfm, ARKO) and allows a detailed analysis of the contribution of defined cells and molecular pathways to more complex effects of androgens. We successfully applied this approach in the study of the role of androgens in the control of spermatogenesis, by developing a Cre/loxP-based mouse model with a Sertoli cell (SC)-selecti...

Spermatogenesis is a complex process involving interactions between the somatic cells (Sertoli, Leydig, peritubular) and germ cells within the adult testis. Androgens are key regulators of spermatogenesis and intra-testicular concentrations of testosterone (T), produced by the Leydig cells, are higher than that in blood. Androgen action is mediated by the androgen receptor (AR), an X-chromosome-encoded, ligand-activated, transcription factor. The mechanisms by which androgens ...

The two primary functions of the adult testis (sperm production and hormone production) need to be co-ordinated because sperm production is completely dependent on appropriate hormone (primarily testosterone) production. However, it is equally evident from animal studies that Leydig cell (LC) development and function are also affected by developmental and functional status of the seminiferous tubules. For example, development of the adult LC population is dependent on reduced ...

Smoking by women during pregnancy can result in a 30–48% reduction in sperm count and testis size in the exposed offspring in adulthood, probably because of a decrease in the number of Sertoli cells. Until recently Sertoli cell proliferation was thought to be androgen independent because fetal Sertoli cells do not express the androgen receptor, but new evidence suggests that androgens may play the lead role in regulating Sertoli cell proliferation in fetal (Tan et al.<...

Introduction: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) has a reported annual incidence of 0.5–2.0 cases per million individuals. Updated population-based studies on incidence are lacking. The aim of this nationwide survey was to describe the incidence and survival rate of ACC in the Netherlands. Secondary objectives were to evaluate changes in survival rates and in the number of patients undergoing surgery.Methods: All ACC patients registered in the Netherlan...

Fetal events can affect adult testosterone levels but how this occurs is unknown, as adult Leydig cells (ALC) do not differentiate until puberty. Qin et al. 2008 (PLos ONE) identified that chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor II (COUP-TFII) is essential postnatally for ALC development. We hypothesized that: i) COUP-TFII+ non-Leydig interstitial cells are progenitors for ALC and are present in the fetal testis, ii) these ‘pr...