Endocrine Abstracts

: Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NPA) are prevalent neoplams from pituitary. The best treatment is the surgical approach but residual tumours are common. For residual tumours the options are radiotherapy (RT) and re-surgery. There are no significant studies testing drugs in NPA. Due to the fact that these tumors express dopamine D2 receptors, dopamine agonists that may be useful in patients with NPA.Methods: We selected 145 patients with residual tum...

Together with Profs Lefkowitz and Kobilka, G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have taken the stage in the 2012 Nobel award for Chemistry. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences states that ‘About half of all medications achieve their effect through G-protein-coupled receptors’. As shown in previous talks in this session, GPCRs are not acting individually; often they form homodimers and, more interestingly, they may occur as heterodimers. Heteromers open a completely ...

Evidence is accumulating that type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with cognitive impairment and dementia. In fact, numerous epidemiological studies have demonstrated that T2D patients have a significantly higher risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases and, in particular, Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In clinical practice there are no reported phenotypic indicators or specific examinations to identify T2D patients at risk of developing AD. This gap should be urgently bri...

Introduction: Cushing’s syndrome results from increased or aberrant expression of ACTH, CHR, or neuroendocrine receptors that leads to uncontrolled hypersecretion of cortisol. The most common cause is ACTH-secreting pituitary adenomas. Alternatively, the glucocorticoid excess may be due to adrenal neoplasia or to ectopic ACTH – secreting tumors. There are rare reports of patients with a meningioma secreting CRH presenting paraneoplasic Cushing’s syndrome.<p ...

Cushing syndrome is a comorbid condition resulting from long-term exposure to glucocorticoids (GC). It affects body fat composition in various parts of the body. Since each fat depot has a distinct response to glucocorticoid exposure, we wanted to understand adipose tissue turnover. In order to reproduce the disease state, we used a rodent model recapitulating Cushing syndrome. We inserted subcutaneous mini pumps in the dorsal area of rats to infuse Dexamethasone at a rate of ...

Introduction: We report a case of a parathyroid carcinoma with very unusual and revealing features.Case report: DAB, male aged 66 was subjected to subtotal gastrectomy because of a localized gastric adenocarcinoma (intestinal type). A mild primary hyperparathyroidism (PTH<200 pg/ml) was simultaneously found. Calcium oxalate nephrolythiasis at 50 years was noted. Sonography revealed a nodular lesion in the right lower thyroid pole, while NMR showed a ...

Background: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is nowadays an asymptomatic disease characterized by mild hypercalcemia and elevated parathormone (PTH) levels. A non-typical form of the disease distinguished by high PTH levels, normal serum calcium concentrations, and no evidence of secondary hyperparathyroidism was recently identified. The data about parathyroid imaging findings in the normocalcemic type of the disease are lacking. Ultrasonography (US) is the most convenient i...

Introduction: It is known that fasting causes several physiological changes in the endocrine pancreas, such as insulin secretion, pancreatic islet metabolism and beta cells redox state. However, there is still no consensus about the effects of intermittent fasting (IF), a fad diet widespread by the media and adopted by individuals seeking rapid weight loss. In the present study, we sought to study the effects of the IF diet for three months in an animal model.<p class="abs...

IntroductionDiabetes, a metabolic disorder characterized by abnormal blood glucose levels, is a serious chronic disease that implies an important public health problem. Being Insulin the main hormone for modulating blood glucose levels, subcutaneous injections are the main way for its administration in the diabetes treatment. However, this way of administration can lead to poor patient compliance, apart from several side-effects. Although other ways of a...

Background: Adipose tissue is considered a highly active metabolic and endocrine organ with important physiological functions. The evaluation of protein expression has the potential advantage of providing a global vision of the cellular pathways associated with adipose tissue dysfunction and obesity, permitting the identification of novel candidate molecules that would have not been considered of interest otherwise.Objectives: To identify proteins differ...