Endocrine Abstracts

Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a rare malignancy of the thyroid gland. MTCs originate from thyroid-C cells and account for 2-4% of all thyroid neoplasms. Originating from thyroid-C cells, the main secretory product of MTCs is calcitonin, used as sensitive and specific MTC-biomarker. Calcitonin is a hormone known to participate in calcium-bone metabolism suppressing bone-resorption by inhibiting the activity of osteoclasts, and inhibiting the kidney reabsorption of calcium a...

Purpose: To evaluate whether the degree of response to surgical pre-treatment with somatostatin receptor ligands (SRL) predicts alterations in blood glucose levels.Patients and methods: We retrospectively studied 181 patients attending the Unit of Neurosurgery of our Hospital prior to transsphenoidal surgery. All patients had a diagnosis of acromegaly (nadir GH during OGTT >0.4 ng/ml; and IGF-I above age-standardized UNL); diagnosis of diabetes (DM) ...

Acromegalic osteopathy is an emerging complication of chronic GH excess characterized by increase in bone turnover, deterioration in bone microarchitecture and high risk of vertebral fractures (VFs). Medical therapies may exert direct effects on peripheral targets leading to improvement of clinical outcomes regardless of biochemical control of acromegaly. In this longitudinal study, we compared the effects pegvisomant (PegV) and somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs) on VF risk ...

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) has become increasingly recognized as a cause of metabolic syndrome, characterized by altered body composition and adverse cardiovascular risk. The effects of other pituitary hormone deficiencies or their replacement therapies on the metabolic profile in this clinical setting are still largely unclear. In this study, we aimed to evaluating the effects of replacement therapies of central hypoadrenalism and hypothyroidism on body composition in a ...

Over the last years, there has been evidence that acromegaly may cause skeletal fragility with high risk of vertebral fractures. The diagnostic approach to this complication is still a matter of uncertainty, since DXA measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) does not provide reliable information on fracture risk in acromegaly. The cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) technique offers three-dimensional images for the radiographed area with the advantage to use non-dedicated eq...

Introduction: Recent studies showed that morphometric vertebral fractures (VF) are an early and frequent complication in patients (pts) withhyperfunctioning pituitary adenomas and hypopituitarism (independently from the etiology). GH excess or severe deficiency play a negative key role on bone health in this clinical setting. Disease control or adequate replacement therapies still remain a cornerstone for the clinician to reduce the burden of osteo-metabolic complications. To ...

Introduction: Acromegaly (Acro) is characterized by insulin sensitivityreduction, glucose intolerance (IGT) and diabetes mellitus (DM2 in 15%–38% of patients). Studies that investigated action of medical therapies for acro on glucose metabolism, didn’t provide conclusive data. Association between blood glucose (BG) levels and serum IGF-I levels in patients with DM2 and acro has been suggested, however,IGF-I levels and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) correlation is still con...

Adult GHD patients may have reduced BMD with high risk of vertebral and non-vertebral fractures which is thought to be reverted by long-term rhGH replacement therapy. In this study we aimed at identifying the determinant factors of vertebral fractures, as assessed by a radiological morphometric approach, in a cohort of adult patients with untreated GHD. Forty-two patients (27 males, 15 females; median age: 48 years, range: 30–67) with untreated severe (as defined by a pea...

Adult GHD patients may have reduced BMD, which is thought to be reverted by long-term rhGH replacement therapy. We have recently reported high prevalence of vertebral osteoporotic deformities in untreated adult GHD patients. Gonadal status is the main determinant of bone loss in patients with primary form of osteoporosis.In this cross-sectional study, we investigated whether the prevalence and degree of spinal deformities in adults with treated or untrea...

Hypocalcemia has been recently identified as a major biochemical distinctive feature of COVID-19, predicting poor clinical outcomes. Besides the calcium-dependent viral mechanisms of action and the enhanced cellular permeability to calcium ions, we previously hypothesized that hypovitaminosis-D could be a predisposing factor to hypocalcemia. Actually, high prevalence of vitamin D (VD) deficiency in COVID-19 patients (pts) was reported by several studies, but, to date, only few...