Endocrine Abstracts

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of several neoplasias and the IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) may have a role as autocrine/paracrine factors in regulating the local actions of the IGFs. In the present study we investigated IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-1, IGFBP-2, and IGFBP-3 production in cultured media from three human lung cancer cell lines (Calu-3, Calu-6, A549) and in human neoplastic and normal lung tissue samples obtained at surgery fr...

Background: Acromegaly is a severe systemic condition characterized by elevated circulating levels of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and increased mortality and morbidity. The role of GH and IGF-I in mammary hyperplasia is well established and GH/IGF-I elevation has been hypothesized to favor neoplastic development. We recently demonstrated that premenopausal females with active acromegaly may display an increased mammographic breast density (MBD)...

Some case report suggested that increased need for thyroxine may occur in overt celiac disease (CD). However, overt CD (with typical gastrointestinal symptoms) only represents 10 to 20% of cases of CD, being the majority represented by the atypical CD and other occult forms, in which extra intestinal symptoms prevail. Few data on the need for oral T4 in patients with occult CD are available. In this study we analyzed the replacement T4 dose in 68 hypothyr...

Aims: Recently, our team introduced the concept of post-hypoglycemic hyperglycemia (PHH) in the context that recovery of hypoglycemia impacts cardiovascular risk. GLUREDIA study aimed to evaluate whether PHH parameters correlated with glycemic homeostasis during the first year after type 1 diabetes onset and helped to distinguish pediatric patients undergoing partial remission or not.Methods: In the GLUREDIA study, longi...

Cushing’s Disease (CD) is severe clinical condition due to an ACTH-secreting pituitary tumor. Here we present the case of a 25-years old male who came to our attention for hypertension, moon face, acanthosis nigricans, abdominal purple striae and central obesity. The diagnosis of CD was based on the presence of high plasma cortisol after dexamethasone suppression test and elevated urinary free cortisol levels (UFC, 6-fold higher the upper limit of normality (ULN)). The pi...

Objective: We developed a novel dual-component molecular assay as an ancillary method to improve clinical decision-making in patients with cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodules. The assay includes next-generation sequencing (NGS) based detection of mutations in 23 thyroid cancer related genes and digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) evaluation of the expression levels of a microRNA strongly associated with thyroid cancer. The method was designed as a “rule-out&#...

Background: The response to first-generation long-acting somatostatin analogues (LA-SSA) treatment in acromegaly depends on the expression of the somatostatin receptor (SSTR) subtypes. In contrast to octreotide and lanreotide which preferentially bind to SSTR2, pasireotide targets multiple SSTRs, with the highest binding affinity for SSTR5. It has previously been suggested that SSTR5 expression could predict the response to pasireotide LAR (PAS-LAR) treatment in acromegaly.</p...

Background: The COVID-19 outbreak in Italy forced the health system to cancel all non-urgent outpatient activities, to avoid further spreading of the disease inside the healthcare facilities. At our institution, for cancer patients the hospital allowed treatments and consultations: the medical team, however, identified patients whose procedures could be postponed. Even after May 2020, the capacity for non-urgent thyroid surgeries was reduced. These events enhanced our efforts ...

Somatostatin (SRIF) is an inhibitory hormone that plays a regulatory role in several cell functions including cell proliferation. SRIF acts through five specific membrane receptors (sst1-5), expressed on SRIF-target cells. SRIF and ssts may play a significant role in the progression and neuroendocrine differentiation of human prostate cancer (PCa). However, conflicting results have been reported in the literature on ssts heterogeneity and specific cell localization in PCa. Aim...

To test the feasibility of reconstructing ex situ an entire bioartificial thyroid gland suitable for transplantation we have bioengineered a rat thyroid lobe using its decellularized stromal / vascular matrix, eventually 3D recellularized with thyroid stem / precursor cells. Sprague-Dawley male rats (220–240 g) were used as thyroid donors, and lobe matrixes obtained by freezing / detergent / enzyme processing. Test matrixes were made electrondense and analyzed by m...