Endocrine Abstracts

In the last years an increasing incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has been reported in young adults (18-45 yrs), probably accounted by the significant increase in CV risk (CVR) factors. Observational and interventional studies, mainly focused on middle-aged and elderly men, demonstrated that metabolic CVR (mCVR) factors and CVD manifestations are common in hypogonadal men and, conversely, testosterone deficiency is highly prevalent in metabolic disorders; the lack of ...

Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ releasing adipokines and expressing specific markers and intracellular mediators, which regulate whole-body energy by balancing lipid accumulation and utilization through adipogenesis, the differentiation of preadipocytes into mature adipocytes associated with gradual lipid storage, and lipogenesis, the additional lipid accumulation in mature adipocytes. Adipogenesis and lipogenesis, strongly induced by insulin, occur in white adipocytes, s...

Sleep apnea (SA) is a common acromegaly comorbidity, influencing patients’ quality of life and mortality risk. Despite its importance, SA frequently remains undiagnosed, and its real prevalence seems to be underestimated. The current observational study aimed at investigating the role of Berlin questionnaire (BQ) and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) in assessing the risk of SA in this high-risk population, and to compare the results with an age-and gender-matched health coh...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by menstrual irregularities and clinical and biochemical hyperandrogenism, and is associated with insulin resistance, visceral obesity and metabolic disorders. The aim of the current study was to compare the effects of inositol isomers (INO) and metformin (MET) on the clinical, metabolic and hormonal aspects of PCOS. In 94 PCOS women, clinical (weight, BMI, waist circumference - WC, menstrual intervals, Ferriman-Gallway score -...

Obesity, characterized by an abnormal body fat accumulation mainly caused by a chronic imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, is a massive public health problem. Targeting excessive fat deposition in adipose tissue and ectopic fat accumulation in skeletal muscle through promoting lipid oxidation pathway may represent a promising strategy to counteract obesity. This study aims at investigating the effects of cabergoline (CAB), a dopamine agonist, on adipose and skelet...

Cushing’s disease (CD), caused by an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-secreting pituitary tumor, is the most common form of hypercortisolism. Pituitary surgery is the first-line treatment of CD and medical treatment is an alternative second-line approach to control cortisol excess. Long-term exposure to glucocorticoids (GC) downregulates the expression of somatostatin receptor type 2 (SSTR2) but not type 5 (SSTR5) in human and mouse ACTH-secreting tumor cell cultures; t...

Rationale: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is common in patients with Cushing’s disease (CD) and Acromegaly (AC), and contributes to increased mortality. This study aimed at investigating the prevalence and characteristics of DM in CD and AC patients at diagnosis and after disease control (DC).Patients and Methods: 34 CD patients (8M,26F, 24 microadenomas(mA),6 macroadenomas (MMA) and 4 empty sella) and 35 AC patients (16M,19F, 7 mA,28 MMA) were inclu...

Despite the myocardial prolactin (PRL) binding activity and the known effect to enhance contractility in the isolated rat heart, little information is available concerning the cardiovascular consequences of hyperprolactinemia in humans. To elucidate the effects of chronic hyperprolactinemia on cardiac structure and function, twenty-four patients with isolated PRL-secreting adenoma and twenty-four controls underwent a complete mono- and two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography....

Background & Aim: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) are detected in >80% of MEN1 patients. MEN1 pNETs are well differentiated G1-G2 NETs. They are usually not surged unless a size >1–2 cm or a growth rate >0.5 cm per year. Somatostatin analogues represent one of the main therapeutic option in patients affected with G1-G2 NETs. However, neither somatostatin analogues nor other therapies have been prospectively evaluated in clinical trials specificall...

Background/aim: X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is a rare disease characterized by low phosphate level. Scientific evidence points to link between hypophosphatemia and obesity in general population. The aim of our longitudinal observational study was to investigate the prevalence of obesity and associated factors in a large cohort of children with XLH.Patients/methods: We selected 172 XLH-children of 5-20 years (113 girls/59 boys). Anthropometric paramet...