Endocrine Abstracts

Hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses to stress are attenuated perinatally in mother rodents. We have now investigated the peripheral sympathetic and adrenal medulla responses to stress in pregnancy by measuring noradrenaline and adrenaline secretion after stress. Virgin and pregnant rats were blood sampled before and after exposure to airpuff startle stress in their home cages, and samples analysed for adrenaline, noradrenaline and ACTH concentration by RIA. Airp...

Interspecies transmission of prion diseases both centrally and peripherally is associated with longer incubation periods and lower effective titres to within species transmission, a phenomenon called the 'species barrier'. Research into interspecies transmission and disease pathogenesis is crucial for understanding disease risk for vCJD, which has been persistently linked to BSE. Host genetics, transmission route and strain of infective agent have generally been shown to affec...

Background: Pituitary stalk compression by sellar/parasellar tumours [commonly non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFA) or craniopharyngiomas (CR)] is one of the causes of hyperprolactinaemia. However, in such cases the upper limits of serum prolactin (PRL) are not clearly defined ('grey zone': 3000-6000 mU/L) causing confusion in the differential diagnosis between disconnection hyperprolactinaemia and prolactin-secreting adenomas.Objective: To investiga...

Carcinoid tumours are the most common neuroendocrine tumors with an estimated incidence of 7-13/ million population. The clinical symptoms of carcinoid tumours usually relate to presence of the carcinoid syndrome, local symptoms or metastases. Most are asymptomatic with only 10% manifesting the 'carcinoid syndrome'. We report an 86 year-old lady referred for evaluation of multiple subcutaneous, nodules around her neck and upper back, with a suspicion of underlying lymphoprolif...

The formylated peptide receptors comprise a polymorphic family of seven transmembrane domain Gi-protein-coupled receptors. Three family members have been characterised in man (FPR, FPRL1 and FPRL2) and eight in mice (Fpr1, Fpr-rs1 to Fpr-rs7) (1). FPR was originally identified as a receptor for formylated bacterial peptides but recent studies suggest that it is also a target for annexin 1 (ANXA1) (2), a protein mediator of glucocorticoid action in the neuroendocrine system (3)...

Background- The reduced survival in acromegaly is strongly related to high serum Growth hormone (GH) concentrations. This increased mortality is proportional to the GH excess on day curve data and hence reduction can improve mortalilty to normal levels. The threshold ofcure has changed over the last three decades and additional parameters have been introduced to assess disease activity.Aim- To compare GH measurement equivalence dur...

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is the commonest malignancy to occur during childhood. Treatment protocols included prophylactic cranial radiotherapy at doses of 18-24Gy. Radiation to the hypothalamic-pituitary axis causes hypopituitarism, the severity of which depends upon the dose and time from treatment. Adults who received 24Gy up to 25 years ago have been shown to be GH deficient, those who received 18Gy were not. Other pituitary function was reported be normal. The purpose...

We present the case of a 65 year old woman with history of difficult to control essential hypertension for many years, and subarachnoid haemmorhage in 1992 requiring insertion of surgical clips for aneurysms at both internal carotid arteries and right middle cerebral arteries.She presented in 2004 with a 3 week history of headaches and a history over one year of increasing size of her hands, feet and nose, goiter and hoarse voice. Serum IGF-1 was 84 nmol...

Prolactin secretion is sexually dimorphic and sensitive to changes in gonadal steroid and glucocorticoid status. Reports that the regulatory effects of glucocorticoids on prolactin release are mediated in part via annexin 1 (ANXA1, 1), have led us to compare prolactin secretion and lactotroph morphology in ANXA1 knockout (KO) and wildtype (WT) mice and to determine the effects gonadectomy +/- testosterone replacement (80 micrograms per day, s.c.) on (a) the plasma prolactin co...

The blood-brain barrier for peptide hormones is protective for the maternal brain.OBJECTIVE: To compare peptide hormone levels on the two sides of the blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier in pregnant, non pregnant and menopausal women.METHODS: We investigated, with the approval of the local ethics committee, 35 healthy pregnant women at term, aged 21-41 years (group G), 27 non-pregnant women aged 21-43 years (group C) and 15 menopausa...

The gut hormone ghrelin is involved in feeding behaviour. It increases appetite and food intake when administered by intravenous infusion to subjects of normal weight. Ghrelin levels are often lower in obese than lean individuals and whether responsiveness to ghrelin differs in lean and obese people is not known. We investigated whether obese human subjects are sensitive to the effects of ghrelin. Approval of the local ethics committee was obtained. We examined the effects of ...

GPR54 is a G protein coupled receptor identified in 2001 as the target for kisspeptin, the product of the KiSS-1 gene. Mutations in both kisspeptin and GPR54 lead to inherited failure to enter puberty (idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism) in the human, and a mutant mouse line with a targeted disruption of the Gpr54 receptor (Gpr54 -/-) has shown the same phenotype.Puberty begins when neurons in the hypothalamus begin pulsatile secretion of Gn...