Endocrine Abstracts

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with several adverse skeletal and extra-skeletal outcomes including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality. Large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been conducted over the last few years with the aim to evaluate the cause-and-effect relationship of vitamin D and health outcomes. These RCTs failed to document significant effects of vitamin D on their primary outcome measures, whereas explorative analyses and meta-analyses sugges...

Vitamin D deficiency has a high worldwide prevalence. This is of concern for public health because a poor vitamin D status can lead to musculoskeletal diseases such as rickets and osteomalacia, but vitamin D may also prevent extraskeletal diseases such as respiratory tract infections and reduce premature deaths. Several nutritional guidelines have been revised within the last few years leading to and increase of the recommended dietary reference intakes for vitamin D. Based on...

Background: Women affected by polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) frequently suffer from obesity, insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance. There is evidence showing an association of hypovitaminosis D with metabolic disturbances in PCOS women. We aimed to investigate the influence of vitamin D supplementation on metabolic and endocrine parameters in PCOS women.Design: Forty-eight women with PCOS were included in the study. Cholecalciferol was admi...

Vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) has a critical role in orchestrating optimal vitamin D homeostasis and bioavailability. VDBP has been implicated in modulating the gene expression of amino-transporters within the placenta and might thus control the transfer of amino acids to neonates during in utero development. We hypothesize that dyshomeostasis of VDBP could lead to adverse metabolic profiles and low birth weight in neonates. VDBP genetic polymorphisms steer the uni...

Over the past several years, growing evidence suggested that serum cortisol is associated with increased cardiovascular (CVD) mortality in patients with chronic heart failure. The prognostic significance of serum cortisol concentration (SCC) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) however is unknown.In the prospective Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health (LURIC) study 3316 patients (median age: 63.5 (56.3–70.6) years; 30.2% women) were...

Objective: Studies in rodents indicate a role of vitamin D in male reproduction but the relationship between vitamin D and androgen levels in men is largely unexplored. We aimed to investigate the association of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels with testosterone, FAI (free androgen index), and SHBG. Moreover, we examined whether androgen levels show a similar seasonal variation to 25(OH)D.Design: In this cross-sectional study, 25(OH)D, testosterone, ...

Background: There is increasing evidence that aldosterone exerts deleterious, blood pressure independent effects on cerebral blood vessels. We aimed to evaluate whether high aldosterone levels are related to fatal stroke.Methods: Serum aldosterone concentrations (SAC, pg/ml) were measured in 3073 Caucasian patients, who were routinely referred to coronary angiography. We calculated Cox proportional hazard ratios for death due to fatal stroke according to...

Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder affecting about 5-10% of women. PCOS is characterized by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory disturbances, and polycystic ovaries. Many women with PCOS present with insulin resistance and central obesity and are at an increased risk for developing diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. Vitamin D deficiency is an important pathogenetic factor in the development of type II diabetes. The aim of the study was to...

Background: The myocardium is a target tissue for vitamin D, that was shown to exert several effects on cardiac contractility and calcium homeostasis. We aimed to elucidate whether insufficient vitamin D status is associated with heart failure and sudden cardiac death (SCD).Methods and Results: We measured 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in 3299 Caucasian patients that were all routinely referred to coronary angiography at baseline (1997–2000). 25(OH)...

Background: The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system (RAAS) is a major regulator of blood pressure, however, there are no studies available addressing its characterization in a large clinical setting. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to describe the relationship between parameters of the RAAS and actual blood pressure results in a large cohort of patients with and without essential hypertension.Methods: We investigated 3253 patients (ages 63.2...