Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT) is characterized by low calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH), often secondary to thyroid surgery. Treatment consists in activated vitamin D and calcium supplementation. Such treatment may be difficult in patients with malabsorption as calcium usually requires an acid environmental to dissolve, while calcitriol needs an intact intestine for a full absorption.Case report: A 36-year old woman had a history of sleeve ...

Introduction: The recurrence rate of intermediate-risk differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) ranges between 5% and 20% and the therapeutic strategy requires further evaluations.Aim: We therefore investigated the potential risk factors for post-treatment recurrence of intermediate-risk DTC at 1 and 3 years from diagnosis.Methods: This retrospective observational study included 121 patients who underwent thyroidectomy for intermedia...

Endogenous TH metabolite 3-iodothyronamine (T1AM) and recently developed thyronamine-like synthetic analogues SG1 and SG2 have emerged as neuroprotective agents. Autophagy has proved to be an effective therapeutic approach for neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore we investigated whether these compounds can induce autophagy in human glioblastoma cells (U-87MG).Cultured U-87MG cells were initially treated with 1 μM T1AM, SG-1, SG-2 or vehicle for 30&...

We report on the clinical and biochemical outcomes in a 20-year-old male suffering from active craniofacial monostotic fibrous dysplasia (MFD) treated with the RANK-L inhibitor, Denosumab, following unsatisfactory responses to prior long-term bisphosphonates therapy. The patient had been treated over 9 years with pamidronate (cumulative dose of 81 mg), but experienced only mild reductions in pain scores. Following initiation of Denosumab 60 mg subcutaneously, bone pain and bon...

Introduction: Although in females of infertile couples abnormal PRL has a definitive role in the medical flow-chart, its role in males is less clear. Animal models suggest that PRL does not play a major role in male reproduction, although its trophic action on male accessory glands was often observed. Studies in humans are scanty. We systematically evaluated possible clinical and ultrasound correlates of PRL in males of infertile couples.Methods: Out of ...

Introduction: ‘Prostatitis-like symptoms’ (PLS) are a cluster of bothersome conditions defined as ‘perineal and/or ejaculatory pain or discomfort and National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) pain subdomain score ≥4’ (Nickel’s criteria). PLS may originate from the prostate or from other portions of the male genital tract. Although PLS could be associated with ‘prostatitis’, they should not be confused. T...

Introduction: The presence of truncated variant of somatostatin receptors (SSTR) has been demonstrated in pituitary tumours. These variants seems act as dominant negative of SSTR and induce the resistance to SST analogue (SSTA) treatment. A variant of SSTR5, sst5TMD4, has been found to disrupt SST signalling in breast cancer cells. In present study, we assayed the expression of sst5TMD4 in two non-transformed epithelial prostate cell lines (EPC): EPN, derived from a normal sur...

The role of CNVs in male infertility is poorly defined, and only those linked to the Y chromosome have been the object of extensive research. Although it has been predicted that the X chromosome is also enriched in spermatogenesis genes, no clinically relevant gene mutations have been identified so far. In order to advance our understanding of the role of X-linked genetic factors in male infertility, we applied high resolution X chromosome specific array-CGH in 199 men with di...

Introduction: Bronchial carcinoids (BCs), originating from endocrine cells dispersed in the respiratory epithelium, can be divided into typical (TBC) and atypical (ABC). TBC are less aggressive, smaller, and much less likely to metastasize, while ABC are more aggressive and metastasize. mTOR has a central role in regulating cell growth, metabolism, and apoptosis. A differential mTOR activation in BCs has been previously demonstrated, suggesting that mTOR pathway might play a p...

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a common condition among liver transplanted patients and it contributes to late morbidity and mortality by favoring the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD).The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of MS in the first 6 months after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and the associated pre-operative and post-operative risk factors.Methods: Seventy-one cirrhotic patients wer...