During mouse pregnancy placental lactogens stimulate prolactin receptors on pancreatic islet beta cells to induce expression of the tryptophan hydroxylase , resulting in the synthesis and secretion of serotonin. Presently, the functional relevance of this phenomenon is unclear. One hypothesis is that serotonin-induced activation of 5-HT receptors on beta cells stimulates beta cell proliferation during pregnancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pancreatic agenesis is an extremely rare cause of neonatal diabetes mellitus and has enabled the discovery of several key transcription factors essential for normal pancreas and beta cell development.
Case Presentation: We report a case of a Caucasian female with complete pancreatic agenesis occurring together with semilobar holoprosencephaly (HPE), a more common brain developmental disorder. Clinical findings were later confirmed by autopsy, which also identified agenesis of the gallbladder.
Type 1 diabetes is an incurable disease associated with risk of serious acute and chronic complications. It is caused by a marked loss in insulin-producing beta cells. Immune intervention at clinical onset can transiently suppress a further decline in residual functional beta cell mass, particularly in young patients with a higher residual insulin producing capacity at start of treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimal feeding operations in the United States produce more than 500 million tons of manure annually. Disposal of poultry waste via application as fertilizer results in substantial runoff of poultry litter-associated contaminants (PLAC). Of particular concern are sex steroids, 17β-estradiol, estrone and testosterone, responsible for sex differentiation and development of reproductive structures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrimary leptomeningeal oligodendroglioma occurs very rarely and in only one patient a deletion of chromosome 1p has been reported. We describe a 60-year-old man with a prior history of an epileptic seizure three years earlier, who was referred because of depression and a rapid evolving cognitive impairment. Brain MRI showed a diffuse right parieto-occipital subarachnoid enhancing lesion without intra-axial extension.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF