Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: Free thyroxine (fT4) measurements are performed to detect thyroid disorders and monitor treatment. FT4 is measured using automated immunoassays (IAs) which face established analytical challenges due to low serum concentrations in the picomolar range and the precarious equilibrium between free and bound T4 (to thyroid-binding globulin (TBG) and (pre-)albumin). Furthermore, IAs are known to be affected by the composition of the serum sample (matrix-effects), which ca...

Background: Accumulating evidence indicates the presence of bidirectional cross-talks between the endocrine and the immune system. However, no data are available on the influence of either the thyroid hormones or TSH within the normal range on the immune cell function in healthy humans.Aim: To comprehensively investigate the effects of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis on the variation of immune responses in a cohort of healthy volunteers.<p cl...

Background: Measurement of steroid metabolite excretion in urine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) provides a comprehensive profile of an individual’s adrenal and gonadal steroid production. It has long been acknowledged as a useful tool for diagnosis of inborn disorders of steroidogenesis leading to congenital adrenal hyperplasia and disorders of sex development. Ratios of steroid metabolites can be employed as surrogates for enzymatic activities of distinc...

Objective: To assess the effect of somatostatin analogs (SSTA) on mortality in relation to metabolic control of acromegaly after pituitary surgery.Design: A retrospective study in two large tertiary referral centers in The Netherlands.Patients and methods: Three hundred and nineteen patients with acromegaly in whom pituitary surgery was performed as primary therapy between January 1980 and July 2017 were included (total follow-up: ...

Background: Testicular Adrenal Rest Tumors (TART) in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) or 11-hydroxylase deficiency (11OHD) are benign lesions causing testicular damage and infertility. We hypothesize that high ACTH exposure due to poor hormonal control during early life is promoting development of TART later in life.Objective: This study aims to examine the relation between early CAH diagnosis and cons...