Endocrine Abstracts

Macronodular adrenal hyperplasia refers to adrenal enlargement by large nodules that may be related to ACTH-dependent or ACTH-independent pathologies. The term Primary Macronodular Adrenal Hyperplasia (PMAH) was recently introduced to replace the term ACTH-independent macronodular adrenal hyperplasia, since in some cases paracrine ACTH production may contribute to cortisol secretion, and also to encompass cases of unilateral macronodular hyperplasia. PMAH is a heterogeneous di...

Introduction: Several markers based on anthropometric and biochemical parameters like fatty liver index (FLI), lipid accumulation product (LAP) index and visceral adiposity index (VAI), have been proposed for the detection of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of FLI, LAP and VAI as markers of NAFLD in premenopausal women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), assessed for hepatic steato...

Aberrant hormone receptors have been demonstrated in macronodular adrenal hyperplasia or, rarely, unilateral adenomas causing Cushing’s syndrome but their prevalence in adrenal incidentalomas (AI) remains uncertain. Therefore we evaluated patients with bilateral AI for evidence of abnormal response to physiological stimuli. We also compared their biochemical characteristics with those of patients with unilateral AI.Assessment of adrenal function was...

Purpose: HPA axis activation resulting in increased cortisol production by the adrenals is a crucial part of the response to critical illness. The action of cortisol may also be modulated at the tissue level, through changes in the availability of the free fraction and modifications of the glucocorticoid receptor activity. It has been proposed that tissue resistance to glucocorticoids may occur, at least in some patients, and relate to insufficient anti-inflammatory activity a...