A study of acromegaly-associated headache with somatostatin analgesia.

The aim of this study is to characterise somatostatin analogue-responsive headache in acromegaly, hitherto not systematically documented in a significant cohort. Using the UK pituitary network, we have clinically characterised a cohort of 18 patients suffering from acromegaly-related headache with a clear response to somatostatin analogues. The majority of patients had chronic migraine (78%) as defined by the International Headache Society diagnostic criteria.

Prothrombotic fibrin network characteristics in patients with acromegaly: a novel mechanism for vascular complications.

Objective: There remains increased cardiovascular mortality in patients with acromegaly. This study aims to evaluate whether GH/IGF-1 excess increases vascular disease by adversely affecting fibrin network characteristics.

Design: Cross-sectional study in 40 patients with acromegaly (21 males, age 53 ± 13 years) and 40 age/gender-matched controls.

Hypothalamic-pituitary axis irradiation dose thresholds for the development of hypopituitarism in adult-onset gliomas.

Background: Childhood brain tumour survivors who receive cranial radiotherapy undergo regular surveillance for the development ofhypothalamic-pituitary (HP) axis dysfunction. Much less attention has been given to radiation-induced hypopituitarism in patients with malignant brain tumours of adult onset.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Pituitary dysfunction following cranial radiotherapy for adult-onset nonpituitary brain tumours.

Objective: There are limited data concerning the evolution of radiation-induced hypopituitarism in adult-onset brain tumour (AO-BT) survivors, in part the consequence of the limited survival of many of these individuals. We aim to characterize the pituitary-related outcomes following cranial radiotherapy (cXRT) for adult-onset primary nonpituitary brain tumours.

Design: We retrospectively analysed longitudinal data of patients with AO-BT who received cXRT within a tertiary cancer referral centre.

Lanreotide autogel in acromegaly - a decade on.

Introduction: The novel formulation of lanreotide, lanreotide (LAN) autogel (ATG), has been available in Europe since 2001 and USA from 2006 for the treatment of acromegaly. It is one of only two clinically available somatostatin analogs available for use in acromegaly. Data relating to the use of ATG in acromegaly, specifically relating to comparison to octreotide (OCT) LAR and patient acceptability and preference, have been slow to accumulate.

Familial adult onset hyperinsulinism due to an activating glucokinase mutation: implications for pharmacological glucokinase activation.

Context: Glucokinase (GCK) phosphorylates and thereby "traps" glucose in cells, thus serving as a gatekeeper for cellular glucose metabolism, particularly in hepatocytes and pancreatic beta cells. In humans, activating GCK mutations cause familial hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia (GCK-HH), leading to keen interest in the potential of small-molecule glucokinase activators (GKAs) as treatments for diabetes mellitus. Many such agents have been developed; however, observation of side effects including hypertriglyceridaemia and hepatic steatosis has delayed their clinical development.

AIP mutation in pituitary adenomas in the 18th century and today.

Gigantism results when a growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma is present before epiphyseal fusion. In 1909, when Harvey Cushing examined the skeleton of an Irish patient who lived from 1761 to 1783, he noted an enlarged pituitary fossa. We extracted DNA from the patient's teeth and identified a germline mutation in the aryl hydrocarbon-interacting protein gene (AIP).