Endocrine Abstracts

We report of two sisters with hyperandrogenism, menstrual abnormalities, and severe insulin resistance. The elder sister was seen after puberty at age 21 and she was referred for the evaluation of hirsutism and polymenorrhoea; the younger was seen earlier in life, at age 15, for the evaluation of secondary amenorrhoea. In both of them, we performed the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in accordance to the Rotterdam criteria. They also presented a lipodystrophic ph...

Obesity is strictly connected with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). However, we still do not know whether a form of PCOS secondary to obesity exists or whether obesity exacerbates manifestations of the syndrome. To answer this question we contacted seventy obese patients with PCOS that attended our Endocrinology Unit in the last 3 years and that lose weight after at least 6 months of dietary treatment. Sixty-five out of 70 patients agreed to take part to the study and gave th...

Among the uncertainties surrounding the etiology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) the role of increased peripheral cortisol metabolism has become interesting, particularly in relationship to the pathogenesis of adrenal hyperandrogenism. The patways of cortisol metabolism include irreversible inactivation of cortisol by 5α- and 5β-reductase. To evaluate the association of 5α- and 5β-reductase activity with adrenal hyperandrogenism in PCOS, we recruited 90...

Aim: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MS) in a cohort of young Mediterranean women with PCOS in reproductive age and to evaluate the association of the MS with clinical and biochemical parameters.Setting: Among 200 PCOS (17-31 years) criteria of MS in accordance with the “NCEP-ATPIII” were used to construct 3 groups: no one criteria, 1 or 2 criteria and 3 or more criteria (affected by MS). All p...