Endocrine Abstracts

Women with COVID-19 and Long COVID (symptoms >4 weeks) have reported AUB. We investigated (i) the association between COVID-19/Long COVID and AUB and (ii) ovarian sex hormones across the menstrual cycle in women with Long COVID. Two studies were completed with ethical approvals and consent. Firstly, a retrospective online survey ‘The Covid-19 Pandemic and Women’s Reproductive Health’ was conducted March-May 2021 with UK participants >18 years old (n<...

We present a case of a 62-year-old lady with a grade 3 well-differentiated metastatic gastric-neuroendocrine tumour complicated by symptoms of CS (weight-gain, bruising, proximal weakness) which developed over 4 weeks. She had progressive disease after exhausting all conventional anti-neoplastic therapeutic options. Screening tests revealed raised 24-h urinary free cortisol (3460 nmol/24h[<165]), post-overnight dexamethasone suppression serum cortisol (serF) 1200 nmol/l(&#...

Background: BCL-2 is an anti-apoptotic protein associated with resistance to tumor cell death and is a histopathologic marker of neuroendocrine differentiation. We characterized the transcriptomic profile of BCL2 expression in NENs and its association with site, immune infiltration, and overall survival (OS).Methods: Next-generation sequencing of both DNA (592-gene panel or whole exome) and RNA (whole transcriptome) was performed on NENs of pancreatic (P...

Introduction: Corticosteroid Binding Globulin (CBG) binds >85% of plasma cortisol and modulates free cortisol levels. Observations in vitro show that CBG is cleaved by neutrophil elastase (NE), a mechanism proposed to reduce CBG binding affinity and increase free cortisol availability to inflamed tissues. However, detection of cleaved CBG in vivo in human plasma is controversial, and any influence of NE on CBG cleavage has not been tested in vivo...

Cortisol conversion to 20β-dihydrocortisol (20β-DHF) has been reported in many tissues and cells, including skin, muscle, thrombocytes and fibroblasts, although the enzyme responsible is poorly characterised. We have attributed 20β-DHF generation to carbonyl reductase 1 and shown increased activity of this pathway in adipose tissue in obesity in humans, horses and mice. This study addressed the hypothesis that 20β-DHF activates gl...

Cortisol conversion to 20β-dihydrocortisol (20β-DHF) has been reported in many tissues and cells, including skin, muscle, thrombocytes and fibroblasts, although the enzyme responsible is poorly characterised. We have attributed 20β-DHF generation to carbonyl reductase 1 and shown increased activity of this pathway in adipose tissue in obesity in humans, horses and mice. This study addressed the hypothesis that 20β-DHF activates gl...

Background: Endocrine systems are known to be disrupted in acute illness, and we previously demonstrated that plasma steroid concentrations correlated with severity in patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Given their similarity to some clinical hormone deficiencies, we hypothesised that ‘long-COVID’ symptoms may be related to ongoing endocrine dysfunction.Methods: Plasma steroids, precursors and metabolites were quantified by LCMS/MS in multi-c...

Glucocorticoids (GC) are potent anti-inflammatory compounds, acting mainly through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). GC therapy, however, has debilitating side-effects, necessitating safer new alternative therapies. The natural GC metabolite 5α-Tetrahydrocorticosterone (5αTHB) is anti-inflammatory in vivo in mice, but with fewer side-effects. Its mechanism of action is unknown, and here we test signalling via GR and the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). 5&#94...

Background: Treatment of CAH in childhood focuses on growth and development; however the impact of final height (FH) on adult health is not known. We examined the relationship between FH, adiposity, cardiometabolic risk and quality of life (QoL) in a cohort of adult patients.Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 199 adults with CAH. FH, waist circumference (WC) and QoL were expressed as z-scores adjusted for mid-parental target height (FHTH<...

Physiological circulating concentrations of estrogens are very low in men and postmenopausal women (<50 pg/ml), which presenting analytical challenges. Immunoassays can detect as low as 30 pg/ml, but cross-reactivity is a concern. Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) offers greater specificity than immunoassays, but ionisation of estrogens is inefficient. Derivatisation, which introduces charged moieties, may enhance ionisation. Dansylated de...