Endocrine Abstracts

The spontaneous remission of Cushing disease (CD) might be a phase of cyclic disease, but could also be explained by an ACTH-microadenoma infarction or hemorrhage, with clinical pictures ranging from asymptomatic hypercortisolism normalization to dramatic hypocortisolism. We describe the case of a 23-years-old woman, referred for amenorrhea lasting for 5 months, overweight and acne. Physical examination showed mild hirsutism, acne, round face with a hint at rubeosis, abdominal...

Patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) commonly develop osteopenia–osteoporosis; the recovery of bone mass after remission of hypercortisolism is not well documented. The present study addresses this issue.Patients and methods: Twenty patients (6M, 14F, 2 post-menopausal), aged 15–64 years (median 36), 15 with Cushing’s disease, 2 with ectopic ACTH syndrome, 3 with ACTH-indipendent CS were studied. BMD (t and z scores) at...

Background Ghrelin stimulates cell proliferation in a number of tissues including pituitary. AMPK, a heterotrimer kinase enzyme, is an important sensor and regulator of cellular energy balance. We have shown that ghrelin can change AMPK activity in various tissues and this mechanism could play a role in its metabolic effects. AMPK has recently been established to strongly inhibit cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. We therefore hypothesised that ghrelin stimulates cell proli...

Background: Ghrelin stimulates cell proliferation in a number of tissues including pituitary. AMPK, a heterotrimer kinase enzyme, is an important sensor and regulator of cellular energy balance. We have shown that ghrelin can change AMPK activity in various tissues and this mechanism could play a role in its metabolic effects. AMPK has recently been established to strongly inhibit cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. We therefore hypothesised that ghrelin stimulates cell prol...

Parathyroid glands regulate bone metabolism through PTH, while bone modulates parathyroid function through calcium and FGF23. We tested the hypothesis that the matrix protein osteocalcin (OC), secreted by osteoblasts, may modulate parathyroid function. In human parathyroid cells derived from adenomas (PAds), incubation with g-carboxylated OC (GlaOC) or undercarboxylated OC (GluOC) modulated the intracellular signaling pathways: both GlaOC and GluOC inhibited the basal phosphor...

An increase in basal and Pentagastrin (Pg) stimulated calcitonin (CT) concentration is a specific feature of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). Routine basal CT measurement in nodular thyroid diseases is controversial. Pg stimulation is expected to increase the basal CT specificity in MTC screening, although false positive responses in patients without MTC have been reported.Aim: To report the diagnostic accuracy of Pg-stimulated CT in surgically treated...

The Hippo pathway is involved in human tumorigenesis and regeneration. Here, we investigated the Hippo co-activator YAP1 and the kinase LATS1/2 in tumors of the parathyroid glands, which are almost invariably associated with primary hyperparathyroidism. Compared with normal parathyroid glands (n = 3), where YAP1 was detectable in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus, parathyroid adenomas (PAds; n = 10) had YAP1 accumulation mainly at the nuclear level, while in p...