Endocrine Abstracts

Despite considerable progress, the pathogenesis of pituitary tumours is largely unknown. Aberrant expression of oncogenes or tumour suppressors is thought to play a role in pituitary tumour initiation. The originating tumour cells may express abnormal patterns of growth factor receptors and may release excessive amounts of growth factors or angiogenic factors, which contribute in auto-/paracrine manner to the different speed and degree of progression of pituitary tumours. Here...

Background: Acromegaly is characterized by hormonal excess of GH and IGF-1, however many patients suffer from hypopituitarism as a result from either disease or treatment. Quality of Life (QoL) is known to be reduced both in acromegaly, with mixed results on the role of biochemical control herein, and hypopituitarism. Studies report the level of surgery-induced hypopituitarism after acromegaly at 12.79% (CI 9.88–16.00%). Treatment of acromegaly aimed at normalization of h...

Introduction: Leydig cell hypoplasia (LCH) is a rare autosomal recessive condition that interferes with normal development of male external genitalia in 46,XY individuals. It is mediated by mutations in the luteinizing hormone receptor gene (LHCGR), most frequently located in the coding sequence, resulting in impairment of either LH/CG binding or signal transduction.Case report: We report a 32-year-old female which presented with primary amenorrhea, fema...

Combined rapamycin-octreotide treatment has a stronger antiproliferative effect on non-functioning pituitary tumor cells compared with each drug alone. The mechanism of the combined treatment action was studied in AtT-20 pituitary tumor cells. Rapamycin is known to induce cell cycle arrest at the G1/S transition point. The entry of eukaryotic cells into the cell cycle is controlled primarily by the activation of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK4/CDK6 and CDK2) by their respective...

Objective: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a hallmark of the metabolic syndrome and has been shown to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality. Although glucocorticoids and growth hormone are known to be implicated in its pathophysiology, it has only rarely been investigated in the context of patients with pituitary insufficiency or former cortisol excess.Design: Case-control study, including patients with biochemically control...

Neuroimaging techniques have improved over the last years; hence an “empty sella” is more often incidentally diagnosed. The term “empty sella” describes a missing pituitary gland in the sella turcica. Up to now, it is not known if routine endocrine assessment is necessary in patients with primary empty sella syndrome (PES) without clinical suspicion or history of neuroendocrine disorders.We performed a systematic literature research u...

Introduction: The thyroid gland plays an important role in metabolism of human body. Abnormal growth of this gland is called Goiter. Iodine deficiency was thought to be the main cause of goiter. However, despite years of salt iodization, goiter continues to be a major public health, worldwide. As the thyroid gland is the most common organ affected by autoimmune diseases, it is suggested that autoimmunity can disturb thyroid function and develop to goiter. This study tries to i...

A 22-year-old woman presented with weight gain (class I obesity), oligomenorrhea, impaired vision, and altered concentration. With suspected craniopharyngeoma she was treated with transcranial surgery; in fact for a suprasellar haemangioma. Post-operatively, she still presented an alteration in appetite with hyperphagia and excessive weight gain up to class III obesity. This syndrome is described as ‘hypothalamic obesity’ and results from any damage to the ventromedi...

Blood-borne bacteria, fungi and viral agents can activate cells of the innate immune system by interacting with pattern-recognition or Toll receptors on the surface of immune cells. We demonstrate here that mRNA for Toll receptors is ubiquitously expressed in a range of transformed and normal cell types. These findings raise the possibility that infection could induce an inflammatory response in somatic tissues and this might i), provide a milieu for changes in normal cells th...

Objective: Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) is associated with metabolic parameters and involved in glucose metabolism. Low IGF1 has been implicated in the etiology of glucose intolerance. However, epidemiological data are scarce and the role of IGF1 in prospective studies is not clear to date.Research design and methods: We measured IGF1 levels in 7665 subjects free of diabetes from two German prospective cohort studies, the DETECT study and SHIP and...