Endocrine Abstracts

The objective of our study was to evaluate the potential benefit of short-term combined treatment with LT4plusLT3 in patients with persistent hypothyroidism and malabsorption. We report ten cases of patients with hypothyroidism secondary to total thyroidectomy, in which high doses of L-T4 (2,7-3.5 mcg/kg/die) were not adequate to normalize thyroid function. TSH was persistently high (from 10 to 100 mU/L) with low serum levels of thyroid hormones.<p class="ab...

Cabergoline (CAB), a potent dopamine agonist, is one of the most effective neuromodulatory drug in the second line treatment of patients with Cushing’s disease (CD). The aim of the current study was to estimate the predictive value of the acute CAB administration on short and long term responsiveness to CAB treatment. Twenty CD patients (6 males, 14 females, 12–60 years) entered the study. The acute CAB test was performed evaluating serum cortisol every hour for 6 h ...

GH replacement is widely used in adults with hypopituitarism, but its effect on tumor occurrence and pituitary tumor recurrence is unknown. Furthermore, in literature there are scant with short follow-up time. The available data do not seem to suggest that rhGH replacement increased the incidence of regrowth of pituitary tumor and of cancer in adults with GHD, provided that IGF1 concentrations remain within the normal range for age.The aim of our study w...

Introduction: The training year of elite athletes is characterized by different kind and intensities of workload implying different level of metabolic responses of the skeletal tissue, assessable by measuring serum levels biochemical markers.Methods: Fourteen top-level female skiers, from the Italian Women’s Alpine Ski Team (slalom and giant slalom), were tested at the end of the relative rest period (T1), the pre-competitive season (T2) and the com...

Introduction: Somatostatin analogues (SSA) represent the main therapeutic option in patients affected with functioning well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NET). However, after a variable time from the start of the therapy tachyphylaxys may cause lack of control of clinical syndrome and progression of the disease.Aim: The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate efficacy in terms of reduction of circulating markers, control of the clinical syn...

CAH has been described to be associated to infertility and semen abnormalities in 40–70% of adult male patients, because of hypogonodotropic hypogonadism, consequent to the increased levels of sex steroids, but mostly because of the frequent presence of testicular adrenal rest tumors. The aim of the current study was to evaluate semen parameters and hormonal setting in a subset of men with CAH. Fourteen patients with classical CAH due to 21-HD (six with simple virilizing,...

Somatostatin analogues (SSA) represent a recognized therapeutic option in patients affected with functioning neuroendocrine tumors (NET). In non-functioning NET, SSA are reported to induce tumor stabilization in most of cases and objective response in <5%. NET associated to Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) are inherited tumors, generally located in the duodeno-pancreatic trait, characterized by well differentiated histotype, high expression of somatostatin recept...

Introduction: Several cross-sectional studies evidence the association between hypovitaminosis D, obesity, insulin resistance (IR), and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) cohorts, although the role of obesity per se is still debatable. Increased leptin-to-adiponectin ratio (L/A) and low-grade chronic inflammation markers, both due to accumulation of dysfunctional adipocytes, have been recently reported in PCOS. Aim of our study was to investigate the relative roles of obe...

Cabergoline (CAB) was demonstrated to be effective in normalizing cortisol secretion in a subset of patients with Cushing’s disease (CD). The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of chronic treatment with CAB on clinical, metabolic and hormonal parameters in CD patients. Twenty-six patients with CD (11 males, 15 females, 12–72 years) entered the study. Patients were divided into two groups, responders and non responders, according to the achievement or not of ...

Objective: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a multifaceted disease characterized by metabolic and reproductive disorders associated with hyperandrogenism and insulin resistance. Berberine (BBR) is an isoquinoline derivative alkaloid extracted from chinese medicinal herbs that has been used as an insulin sensitizer.BBR could represent a potential therapeutic tool for PCOS.The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of BBR on the clinical, metabol...