News & Comment

The First International Congress on Head and Neck Paragangliomas in 2023 launched a global initiative directed towards improving the management of head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGLs), including prevention, treatment and research. The Congress highlighted a lack of international evidence-based consensuses and guidelines for HNPGLs. The Congress will now convene triennially to foster personalized medicine and research to advance patient care.

Daily levothyroxine (LT₄) is the standard of care for the treatment of hypothyroidism; however, a small number of patients experience residual symptoms of hypothyroidism. Guidelines indicate that a trial with LT₄ and liothyronine (LT₃) could be attempted once other conditions have been addressed or excluded. Even so, currently, treatment of hypothyroidism can still be suboptimal.

Alzheimer disease has a sex bias: women are twice as likely as men to be affected. Studies have linked elevated follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels to worsened Alzheimer disease pathology and cognitive decline in mice. Exploring the interaction of FSH with APOE4 has uncovered new aspects of Alzheimer disease. The therapeutic potential of FSH and gonadotropin-releasing hormone have also been highlighted.

Applying a uniform reference range across all adults for serum levels of thyroid stimulating hormone and thyroid hormones makes establishing a diagnosis of thyroid dysfunction challenging and could lead to potentially unnecessary treatment. For the results of thyroid function tests to be meaningful, the reference ranges should reflect individual variation in thyroid function.

The European Society of Endocrinology (ESE), representing 20,000 endocrinologists, is concerned about the effect of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on endocrine health, particularly thyroid and gonadal function. The policy strategies of the ESE aim to minimize overall exposure of humans to EDCs and to stimulate funding for research at the level of the European Union.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone is implicated in cognitive functions, and its loss is a factor in pathological brain ageing. There are similarities between these processes and the neurological and cognitive deficits observed in patients with long COVID. Here, we explore the hypothesis that neuroanatomical and transcriptomic alterations associated with long COVID could stem from this neuroendocrine perturbation.

The debut of stem cell-derived islets in the clinic for glycaemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus has garnered much excitement. Ongoing research in this field guarantees to be transformative for modern treatment of diabetes mellitus.

Adipocytes have high levels of many components of the complement system. These components are involved in antimicrobial activities, but also have the potential to regulate the maintenance and turn-over of adipocytes under normal and pathophysiological conditions through positive and negative regulation of the membrane attack complex.

Case studies of patients with anorexia nervosa revealed psychological improvements upon treatment with recombinant human leptin, including an alleviation of the entrapment in this eating disorder. Hypoleptinaemia induced by loss of adipose tissue mass might trigger psychological changes observed in starvation. Accordingly, leptin analogues might prove beneficial for treatment of anorexia nervosa.

Artificial intelligence has already revolutionized various fields in medicine and research. Due to the complex and interconnected nature of the endocrine system, it is an ideal area to further exploit and maximize the potential benefits of artificial intelligence.

The path to becoming a clinical academic researcher is arduous and convoluted, with many hurdles. A good mentor is key to growth and development, not only as one embarks on the journey, but also as a ‘sounding board’ throughout one’s career.

The field of bioenergetics is rapidly expanding with new discoveries of mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets. The 2023 Keystone symposium on ‘Bioenergetics in Health and Disease’, which was jointly held with the symposium ‘Adipose Tissue: Energizing Good Fat’, consisted of a powerhouse line-up of researchers who shared their insights.

“Adults have really boring ideas” is what we repeatedly learn from our participatory research with young people. Nevertheless, it is common practice that adults design research, questionnaires and interventions for young people. Not surprisingly, many research initiatives, questionnaires and interventions are utterly boring and a bad fit for the intended population. Consequently, many research efforts go to waste.

Classic psychedelics are being revisited as novel drug candidates. Researchers are investigating the efficacy of psychedelics for disorders such as depression and addiction. Facets of obesity pathophysiology are neurobiologically similar to these conditions, and we propose that obesity could be the next frontier in psychedelic research.

Control loop designs are widely present in biology but can undergo errors, which can be fixed using generic strategies. Loop designs in response to organismal stress exhibit distinct features and are under ongoing investigations. Understanding control theory as an organizing principle in biology creates a broader perspective on endocrine and non-endocrine systems.

Radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment is used in patients with thyroid cancer to treat disease and to eradicate normal thyroid remnants. Routine post-operative administration of RAI is no longer indicated in patients with low risk thyroid cancer and might instead be used selectively in patients with a post-operative high serum level of thyroglobulin.

From April 2022, as part of the UK government’s new obesity strategy, it is now compulsory for all larger restaurant and cafes in the UK to include calorie labelling on their menus. Is this legislation, however, likely to be effective in reducing our caloric intake, thereby tackling obesity?

The symptoms of long COVID and chronic adrenal insufficiency have striking similarities. Therefore, we aim to raise awareness of assessing adrenal function in patients with long COVID.

It is increasingly clear that pancreatic islet replacement is needed to provide a comprehensive treatment for the growing numbers of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Advances from the past year suggest that this goal might now be within reach.

A large body of indisputable evidence shows that a certain treatment, commonly advocated by all healthcare professionals for a highly prevalent chronic medical condition, is associated with detrimental effects on health and an increased risk of mortality. This ‘treatment’, which needs eradicating from healthcare settings, is weight stigma.