EUROPEAN ENDOCRINOLOGY – VOLUME 11 ISSUE 1 – SPRING 2015

Welcome to the spring edition of EU Endocrinology, which features a diverse range of articles covering multiple topics in endocrinology. This issue begins with an article by Sandow et al. that provides an overview of bioequivalence studies of recombinant human insulin preparations, as well as considering the relevance of human insulin in the age of […]

Development of Human Insulins Animal insulins extracted from the pancreas tissue were used for therapy from 1922 until 1974, when semisynthetic human insulin became available in limited quantities by modification of animal insulins.1–4 This development was based on identification of the structure of human insulin from human autopsy material. Reference material was obtained by total […]

Diabetes in Pregnancy It has been estimated that type 1 (T1D) and type 2 (T2D) diabetes mellitus (DM) affect at least 1 % of pregnancies.1 Gestational diabetes, which is characterised by glucose intolerance of variable severity that begins or is first diagnosed during pregnancy, may affect up to 15 % of all pregnancies worldwide.2 The […]

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) were introduced for the therapy of type 2 diabetes about 10 years ago, with exenatide the first drug in the class. Natural GLP-1 is secreted post-prandially by the L-cells of the intestine. It stimulates insulin secretion and inhibits glucagon secretion in a glucose-dependent manner. In addition to having direct […]

Thomas Sydenham, the great English seventeenth-century physician (see Figure 1), said that “A man is as old as his arteries”, a concept that has once again come into focus of cardiovascular research and clinical activities, which this review aims to describe. In preventive cardiology there has long existed the need to target individuals at risk […]

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death in the West,1 and dyslipidemia is the major risk factor for atherosclerosis.2 The majority of CVD events would be more susceptible to prevention with effective management for prevention of dyslipidemia. Unfortunately, many patients who have high cardiovascular risk still have unfavourable lipid profiles.3 Because the […]

Cushing’s disease (CD) is a rare condition caused by an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-secreting pituitary adenoma. Chronic hypercortisolism is associated with the development of several morbidities that impair health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and contribute to an increased mortality rate.1–5 Obesity and metabolic alterations, hypertension and cardio-/ cerebrovascular complications, neuropsychiatric, muscle/skeletal, hypercoagulability/thromboembolism and immune consequences remain […]

Prolactinomas are the commonest pituitary tumours with a prevalence varying from 0.3 to 0.5 per 1,000 in the general population. This affection has a large female predominance and a median age of 30 years at diagnosis.1 Prolactinomas in men are characterised by a larger size and a higher frequency of compressive symptoms, invasiveness and resistance […]

Endocrine myopathies represent disorders of the musculoskeletal system that occur in the following pathological conditions: exogenous and endogenous glucocorticoid excess (steroid myopathy), morbid obesity (sarcopenic obesity), hypogonadism, hypothyroidism, hyperparathyroidism, growth hormone deficiency and type 2 diabetes (diabetic myopathy).1–3 Because sarcopenia is their pathophysiological common denominator, the musculoskeletal disorders associated with these endocrine diseases have been […]

Fragility fractures in the young individual are an uncommon clinical scenario, and when faced with such a situation, appropriate assessment is required to ensure correct diagnosis of the underlying aetiology and to avoid unnecessary interventions. Although primary causes of osteoporosis, such as osteogenesis imperfecta, are considered rare, this group of conditions has considerable phenotypic and […]

Precocious puberty (PP) is defined as the onset of clinical signs of puberty before age 8 years in girls and 9.5 years in boys. However, the onset of puberty may be subject to constitutional (genetics, ethnicity) environmental (secular trends, adoption, absence of the father and possible exposure to oestrogenic endocrine-disruptingchemicals) and nutritional (body mass index) […]

Acromegaly is an uncommon disorder that, in the vast majority of cases, is the result of a growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary adenoma. Because tumors are often macroadenomas at the time of diagnosis, there may be a number of signs and symptoms related to local mass effects, including headache, visual field loss, ophthalmoplegia, and hypopituitarism. Chronic […]

Thyroid nodules are a common clinical illness. Neck ultrasonography identifies at least one nodule in 20–76 % of adults, the majority of which are benign.1–3 Cytopathologic evaluation by ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) has emerged as the principal means to evaluate malignancy risk, and is recommended for most nodules greater than 1–1.5 cm.4–6 However, in […]

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is one of the most common preventable causes of mental retardation. Obvious manifestations of hypothyroidism are not typically present at birth, meaning that clinical diagnosis is usually delayed until 3 months of age or older. Unfortunately, by the time the diagnosis is suspected, the effects of thyroid deficiency on the developing brain […]