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DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1082043
© J. A. Barth Verlag in Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York
Symposium on “Recent Developments in Endocrinology and Diabetes” Honoring Dr. Werner A. Scherbaum
Publikationsverlauf
Publikationsdatum:
05. September 2008 (online)
The symposium
In December 2007 an international symposium on recent developments in endocrinology and diabetes was held at the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf. The symposium was to honor the 60th birthday of Prof. Dr. Werner A. Scherbaum, Director of the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Rheumatology at the University Hospital Düsseldorf and his achievements over the last three decades in the field of endocrinology and diabetes. Many colleagues of him with international reputation attended the meeting. They were now asked to summarize their contributions within this Special Issue of Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology and Diabetes.
In a captivating lecture, Dr. Derek LeRoith from the Diabetes Branch of the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, gave new insights into mouse models created to study the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Dr. LeRoith is one of the leading researchers worldwide in the diabetes field with almost 400 scientific papers published in highly ranked international journals. Here, he focused on new data on the risk of cancer development in obesity and in type 2 diabetes. Based on mouse models he hypothesized that hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia could activate the insulin receptor, the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor or hybrid receptors. Also, hyperinsulinemia may inhibit the expression and lower serum levels of IGF-binding protein-1 and may cause increased levels of “free” IGF-1 in the circulation which may activate the IGF-1 receptor [1].
Dr. Michele Solimena from the Technical University of Dresden is one of the world leading scientists in β-cell signalling. Most recently, he described a synergistic effect of glucose and growth hormone signalling between the islet-specific receptor tyrosine phosphatase ICA512 and the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 5 [2]. Here, Dr. Solimena and co-workers reviews current literature concerning proteomic analyses of the pancreatic islet including the insulin-producing β-cells [3] as well as the connection between islet cell signalling and the occurrence of pancreatic tumors [4].
The research of Dr. Eckhard Lammert, the new Director of the Institute for Animal Physiology at the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, is focusing his work on the islet cell niche. With a brilliant talk he gave new insights how pancreatic β-cells communicate and receive informations for their differentiation and function [5]. Within this Special Issue of Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology and Diabetes Dr. Lammert reviews the experimental support of the hypothesis that mutual signaling between insulin producing beta cells and pancreatic endothelial cells determines whether a person develops type II diabetes [6]. Moreover, he and his co-workers show that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key factor for pancreatic islet function [7].
Dr. Ezio Bonifacio from the Technical University of Dresden gave new insights into novel immune strategies for the treatment of type 1 diabetes [8]. With his talk he focused on the application of insulin for preventing type 1 diabetes mellitus in animal models as well as in patients with type 1 diabetes. Since clinical benefits are rare he gave an outline on “what to do to improve vaccination success in humans” including a multicenter trial which has now been initiated [9].
Within this Special Issue Dr. Stefan R. Bornstein from the University of Dresden and Dr. Licinio from the University of Miami raise the provocative question if the worldwide epidemic of obesity is a communicable feature of globalization [10]. There are several hints to support this hypothesis. Within the context of insulin resistance and obesity Dr. E. H. Schwarz, also from the University of Dresden describes an association of a single nucleotide polymorphism in HNF1α and insulin sensitivity [11] as well as a polymorphism in the perilipin gene and obesity [12]. In addition to that, Dr. Diethelm Tschöpe from the Ruhr University Bochum, Heart and Diabetes Center in Bad Oeynhausen provides an update on the connection between diabetes and heart failure [13]. Dr. Matthias Schott and collegues from the University of Duesseldorf reports on new cellular therapy approaches for the treatment of autoimmune endocrine diseases and endocrine malignancies [14] as well as on a new assay system for the detection of TSH receptor autoantibodies in autoimmune thyroid diseases [15]. Finally, Dr. Sven Schinner and Dr. Holger Willenberg, both from the University Hospital Duesseldorf, describe an association of impaired glucose metabolism in morbid obesity with hypoadiponectinaemia [16] as well as the function of interleukin-6 for aldosterone synthesis and in the communication between endothelial and adrenocortical cells [17].