Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Primary empty sella (PES) is a frequent ‘incidental’ finding reported in 5–25% of general population and is associated with endocrine abnormalities in 8–60% of cases. In this collaborative multicentric study we evaluated cardiovascular risk by assessing clinical characteristics, glucidic profile and lipid parameters.Design: A total of 94 PES patients (39M-55F; mean age 50.3±0.9 years; mean BMI 28.9±0.5 kg/m<sup...

Pasireotide (SOM230), a somatostatin (SST) analogue targeting multiple SST receptors, is effective in reducing urinary free cortisol in patients with Cushing disease (CD), due to inoperable or recurrent ACTH secreting pituitary adenomas. The efficacy of SOM230 seems to be dependent on the presence of appropriate SSTRs, mainly SSTR2 and 5, on the membrane of tumor cells. Polyclonal antibodies available up to now recognizing cellular intracellular sites of receptors and their re...

Aim: To evaluate the effects of short and long-term treatment with PEG on rhythm disturbances in a cohort of acromegalic patients resistant to long-term high-dose therapy with SA.Patients and methods: Thirteen patients (4 M, 9 F, aged 44±9.25 years) entered the study. All patients started PEG at initial dose of 10 mg daily, then increased of 5 mg every 6 weeks on the basis of IGF1 levels, until IGF1 normalisation or until the achievement of the maxi...

Deficiency of 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 3 (17βHSD3), an enzyme converting androstenedione (A) to testosterone (T) in the Leydig cells of the testis, is a rare cause of autosomal recessive 46,XY disorders of sexual development (DSD). A 18-year-old phenotypically female patient presented with primary amenorrhea. She had deep voice, macrocephaly, broad forehead, enlarged nasal tip, macrostomia, facial acne, gynecomastia, left-convex dorsal scoliosis, hypopla...

The GH-receptor antagonist PEG, used as monotherapy or in combination to SA, has been demonstrated to normalize IGF1 levels in up to 90% of acromegalic patients after unsuccessful surgery and/or radiotherapy and resistant to conventional SA treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combined treatment with SA plus PEG in a cohort of acromegalic patients resistant to conventional SA therapy. Thirty-two acromegalic patients (17 M, 15 F, age 39.6&#...

Recent studies have shown that the co-administration of lanreotide (lan) with pegvisomant (peg) was able to normalise IGF1 secretion in patients with acromegaly who were partial responders to somatostatin analogues (SSAs).Fifty seven subjects with acromegaly (mean age 51.6±12.7 years) not previously controlled by SSAs (either treated by SSAs for at least 6 months with IGF1 > ULN, or on peg for at least 3 months) with IGF1 > 1.2 ULN (n...

The effects of conventional somatostatin analog (SSA) regimens on glucose homeostasis seem to have minor clinical impact in acromegaly. Recently, we performed a trial showing that high dose octreotide LAR significantly reduces IGF1 in acromegalic patients uncontrolled with conventional SSA doses. In this post-hoc analysis, we evaluated the effects of high doses versus high frequency octreotide LAR on glucose homeostasis (HbA1c, FPG, HOMA-R) in patients with acromegaly e...

Objective: In acromegaly, 25–50% of patients remain uncontrolled with conventional somatostatin analogue (SA) therapy. Evidence suggests that response may be improved by increasing the dose or frequency of administration of SAs. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of octreotide LAR administered at a high dose or high frequency in patients with acromegaly.Methods: This was a 24-week prospective, multicenter, randomized, open-label trial in p...

Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an uncommon malignancy with a still scantily understood pathogenesis and generally poor prognosis. Surgery, performed at early stages, offers the best chance for cure, but unfortunately, it is often noncurative. Medical treatment produced disappointing responses. mTOR inhibitors, such as sirolimus (S) and temsirolimus (T), are promising antineoplastic drugs in several types of carcinomas.Methods: To evaluate ...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate cardiac valve insufficiency prevalence after 12-month combined treatment with somatostatin analogues (SA) and CAB in acromegalic patients partially responsive to high-dose and long-term SA monotherapy. Twenty-four patients entered the study. A standard echocardiography was performed in all patients at diagnosis, after high-dose and long-term SA therapy and 12 months after CAB addition to SA to evaluate ejection fraction (EF) and mit...