Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Stimulated Thyroglobulin levels measured at the time of remnant ablation (Htg-A) and BRAFV600E mutation were shown to have prognostic value in predicting persistent disease in DTC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic role of Htg-A combined with BRAFV600E status in association with revised American Thyroid Association (ATA) risk stratification.Patients and methods: 620 patients treated for a DTC were included in this study wit...

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 ...

Background/aims: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women, being characterized by ovarian hyperandrogenism attributed to intrinsic overproduction by theca cells (TCs). Although previous reports pointed a higher stability and transcription of CYP17mRNA (Wickenheisser JK et al. 2006)1, few have examined (and none has quantified) P450c17 protein expression in TCs from PCOS ovaries. Therefore, the aim of this study is to qua...

Background: Pathological accumulation of intrahepatocellular triglyceride (IHTG) is the first stage non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which encompasses a spectrum of disease from simple steatosis through to cirrhosis. Dietary interventions have demonstrated alterations in dietary fat quantity and quality affect IHTG content; diets rich in saturated compared to unsaturated fat increase IHTG accumulation to a greater extent. Studying the underlying mechanisms in viv...

Arterial hypertension is a major cardiovascular risk factor. Detection of secondary forms of hypertension is key to targeted management and prevention of cardiovascular complications. Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most common and curable form of secondary arterial hypertension and has an estimated prevalence of ~10% in referred patients and 5% in primary care. PA results from autonomous aldosterone production from the adrenal cortex, caused in the majority of cases by a un...

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women. It is characterized by hyperandrogenism, which results primarily from excess androgen production by ovarian theca cells (TCs). Obesity contributes to androgen excess in PCOS and previous studies in vitro using bovine TCs have shown that adiponectin (production of which is inhibited in PCOS) is a repressor of P450c17 activity. However, little is known about expression of adiponec...

Background: Obestatin, a ghrelin gene product was recently isolated but important questions remain regarding its regulation and its physiological effects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of unacylated ghrelin (UAG) on obestatin levels in normal subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).Methods: Five normal subjects and 5 T2D patients were included in this study. Unacylated ghrelin (3 μg/kg per hour) or saline were cont...

Background: Obestatin is a 27 aa peptide derived from the ghrelin gene. Obestatin was first described to exert anorexigenic effects by decreasing gastric motility in rodent models, however these results have been debated and there is presently only small information regarding its activity and its regulation in humans. Furthermore, its interactions with acylated ghrelin (AG), derived from the same gene, have not been evaluated. Therefore, in these preliminary data, we sought to...

Acylated ghrelin (AG) participates in the modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis functions, with a predominantly inhibitory effect upon the reproductive system in animals. Animal studies have shown that ghrelin suppresses LH secretion in vivo, decreases LH responsiveness to GnRH in vitro and partially delays the timing of puberty in males. Aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of AG infusion on spontaneous and stimulated gonadotropin secret...

Context: Hypertension is one of the most preventable risk factors for cardiovascular disease and death. Up to 42.1% of non-Hispanic African-American subjects have hypertension. We recently found that germline ARMC5 variants may play a role in primary aldosteronism, particularly in African-Americans.Objective: We investigated a cohort of participants in the Minority Health Genomics and Translational Research Bio-Repository Database (MH-GRID) stud...