Endocrine Abstracts

Multiple pituitary hormone deficit and hypothalamic obesity are common complications after brain surgery for childhood tumors. Despite adequate replacement hormone therapy, obesity develops equally, but liver failure is not usually described. In this study, four subjects who had undergone surgery for brain tumors involving the peri-hypothalamic area when they were nursing or as youths (9 months, 6 years, 9 years and 20 years). They were referred to our Unit when they were 19, ...

Obesity is characterized by hyperactivated endocannabinoid System (ECS) in brain and periphery and by increased levels of circulating endocannabinoids (cECs), anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2AG). It is still debated whether in absence of obesity cECs are only modulated by adiposity or if they are associated with cardiometabolic parameters.We recruited 155 healthy normal weight (NW, BMI: 18.5–24.9 kg/m2) drug-free volunteers ...

Context: The endocannabinoid system (ECS) hypertonicity contributes to obesity development and maintenance. Excess circulating levels of ECS mediator 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2AG) were reported in obese humans, however, unstandardized experimental settings (i.e. analytical conditions, sample size, concurrent diseases/medications, statistics, gender, body mass index (BMI) and age), clouded its role in dysmetabolism and its usefulness as biomarker. The study aimed at describing 2...

Context: Ageing and obesity are similarly characterized by metabolic impairment in terms of visceral fat, dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance and hypertension. Obesity is featured by endocannabinoid system (ECS) hyperactivation. Increased levels of endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2AG) found in obesity were variously associated to dysmetabolic features, however, it is not clear whether such associations exist in normal weight conditions. Moreover, ageing contribute in mod...

Low testosterone (T) levels are often found in obese men with metabolic abnormalities, however the mechanism underling this condition is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of clomiphene citrate (CC) in increasing T levels and improving metabolic control in hypogonadal obese men with IGT or DM2. A randomized cross-over double blind controlled study was conducted in twenty obese hypogonadal caucasian men, mean age 47 ys, classified in IGT (n=11) or ...

Though LC-MS/MS is replacing immunoassays for major glucocorticoids and androgens routine assessment, the measurement of other sex steroids and precursors is still challenging and available only in experienced research laboratories. Our aim was to develop a simple-prep and rapid 2D-LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous measurement of estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and 17OHpregnenolone.Serum volumes of 300ul were spiked with intern...

The endocannabinoid system is involved in modulating many metabolic and behavioural processes. Due to the instable nature of endocannabinoids in biological fluids and to the poor sensitivity of traditional analytical technologies, little is known about physiological circulating levels of these lipid mediators. We developed and validated an ID-LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous measurement of four endocannabinoids: anandamide (AEA), 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), palmitoyl-et...

The development of a reliable and rapid method to simultaneously measure serum steroids represents a compelling challenge for modern endocrinology. Immunoassays are very sensitive methods, being widely employed in automated routine laboratories, lacking, however, in specificity due to cross-reactivity and matrix interference. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) constitutes the reference method for quantitative analysis of steroids, but time-consuming sample pre-t...

The comprehension of the network of metabolic processes may help the understanding of the molecular pathways driving obesity and related complications. However this is a hard task due to the large number of actors and their complex interplay. We aimed at exploring by targeted metabolomic the circulating metabolite profile in lean (NW, n=42; BMI: 18.5–24.9 kg/m2) and age-matched overweight/obese (OB, n=37, BMI≥25.0 kg/m2), drug...