Endocrine Abstracts

Background: N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), such as α linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have been shown to modify several key risk factors for cardiovascular disease, although n-6 PUFA arachidonic acid (AA) has important roles in inflammation. However, it is not clear whether the apparent protection of n-3 PUFA against cardiovascular disease has been found in diabetic patients.Methods: To clari...

Aim: Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) have increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) including stroke. The risk of CVD is traditionally assessed using office blood pressure (BP) and lipid profile. Increased arterial stiffness predicts cardiovascular events in the general population. We investigated if arterial stiffness was associated with cerebrovascular disease in patients with T2DM and sex- and age-matched controls indepentl y of classical risk factors.<p class...

Background: Copeptin is used as a diagnostic marker for acute myocardial infarction, adrenomedullin as a prognostic marker for congestive heart failure. Both hormones may be involved in pathophysiology of metabolic syndrome.Methods: We have used sera of the ‘Silent diabetes study’ (1). Sera of 920 patients were eligible for this analysis. All patients underwent an oral glucose tolerance test, patients with previously known diabetes were exclude...

We have uncovered the entire functional oxytocin (OT) system in the rat and human heart. In the experimentally-induced myocardial infarction (MI) in rats, the continuous OT delivery improves the cardiac work, reduces inflammation, and stimulates angiogenesis. We hypothesized that these actions of OT are mediated by increase in glucose uptake in cardiomyocytes (CM). Indeed OT (10 nM) increased basal glucose uptake in CM to 4.0±0.2 fmol/mg protein in comparison to 2.2 fmol/...

Introduction: Heart failure is characterised by an up-regulation of neurohoromones, and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) are well-established diagnostic biomarkers with substancial prognostic value. Adrenomedullin is a vasoactive peptide and a potential biomarker of vascular injury in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) The aims of the present study were to investigate whether mid-regional pro adrenomedullin (MR-proADM) is predictive ...

Introduction: Acromegaly is characterized by high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality possibly due to increased prevalence of main traditional cardiovascular risk factors. It is not clear though whether the incidence of atherosclerosis is truly enhanced. Moreover recent in vitro studies show a protective role of (GH) and IGF1 (insulin-like growth factor-1) on the endothelium. As expression of endothelial regenerative reserve, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) could...