Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) is among essential tests for hypercortisolism diagnosis. Due to high sensitivity and specificity, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is replacing obsolete immunoassays (IA) for steroid measurement. However, exhaustive data about IA and LC-MS/MS concordance in the frame of DST are still not available.Aim: To compare cortisol measurements by two routine IAs and LC-MS/MS in basal (F...

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) develops early in Turner syndrome (TS) and appears not related to common risk factors. The precise mechanism of its development is still a matter of debate: a defective insulin response seems to be involved, but the role of incretins is still undefined.Objective: To evaluate the implication of incretin release in the early stages of DM development in TS. Materials and Methods: 153 Turner patient...

Background: Evaluation of steroid replacement therapy (SRT) in adrenal insufficiency (AI) is challenging for the lack of reliable parameters. Measurement of salivary cortisol and cortisone emerged as a non-invasive tool for AI management, however poorly investigated. Aim: To analyse the cortisol and cortisone circadian rhythm in normal controls (NC) and patients with primary AI (PAI) under different SRTs, and to identify useful biomarkers. <p class="...

Background: Many questions concerning polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) remain unsolved, such as the long term evolution of cardiovascular (CV) risk markers and the risk for CV events.Methods: A total of 119 PCOS patients diagnosed in 2009 by NIH criteria at our Unit were evaluated at baseline for cardiovascular risk markers (hypertension, diabetes mellitus-DM, dyslipidaemia, obesity, carotid intima media thickness-cIMT, and epicardial fat thickness-EFT) ...

Background and aim: Ovarian hyperandrogenism is a known cause of post-menopausal hirsutism and virilisation, more frequently of a benign nature (e.g. ovarian hyperthecosis, Leydig cell hyperplasia). Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy delivers both definitive diagnostic and therapeutic results. However, after excluding the presence of a suspicious ovarian mass, the use of GnRH analogues (GnRH-a) offers a valuable therapeutic alternative with cases reporting a sustained response in...

Background: Many questions concerning polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) remain unsolved, such as the long-term evolution of cardiovascular (CV) risk markers and the risk for CV events.Methods: A total of 119 PCOS patients diagnosed in 2009 by NIH criteria at our Unit were evaluated at baseline for cardiovascular risk markers (hypertension, diabetes mellitus-DM, dyslipidaemia, obesity, carotid intima media thickness-cIMT, and epicardial fat thickness-EFT) ...

Introduction: Liver function test abnormalities (LFA) are common in patients with Turner syndrome (TS). The etiopathogenesis of this complication remains unclear, probably being multifaceted. Metabolic syndrome, generalized vasculopathy, and autoimmunity have been proposed as possible causal mechanisms.Objectives: - To describe the prevalence and possible related factors of morpho-functional liver abnormalities in TS adult patients. - To evaluate the uti...

Background: Adrenal insufficiency patient (AIP) care is mostly based on symptoms or clinical signs of inadequate glucocorticoid replacement treatment (GRT). Salivary cortisol (F) and cortisone (E) recently emerged as new tools for AIP management, although poorly employed in clinical practice.Aim: To assess associations between salivary glucocorticoid measures and life quality, anxiety depressive symptoms, sleep quality in AIP.Metho...

Background: PCOS is characterised by increased production of ovarian and adrenal androgens. Obesity is closely connected to excess androgens and to the disruption of hormone circadian rhythmicity. To date, it is not clear whether hyperandrogenism in PCOS, complicated or not by obesity, is associated with androgen rhythm dysregulation.Aim: To investigate androgen diurnal rhythmicity and overall daily androgen exposure by measuring testosterone(T), androst...

Background: Adrenal incidentalomas (AI) are classified into mild autonomous cortisol-secreting (MACS) and non-secreting (NS) based on the 1mg-dexamethasone suppression test (DST). However, the latter test fails to detect alterations in the cortisol rhythm, which might be present in both MACS and NS.Aim: To characterize the cortisol secretion in terms of daily rhythm and exposure in healthy controls (HC) and patients with AI.Methods...