Endocrine Abstracts

Chronic exposure to hypercortisolism significantly impacts on patient’s health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We developed a disease-generated questio-nnaire to evaluate HRQoL in Cushing’s syndrome (CS) (CushingQoL); in 125 (104 females) patients recruited in Spain, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Italy, clinical and hormonal data were collected and correlated with results of the generic SF-36 questionnaire, a question on self-perceived general heal...

Background: Cabergoline, a dopamine receptor-2 agonist, used to treat prolactinomas was associated with increased risk of cardiac valve disease.Objective: To evaluate prevalence of cardiac valve regurgitation in patients with prolactinomas treated with cabergoline.Design: Open, case–control, prospective.Patients: Fifty patients (44 women, 6 men) and 50 sex- and age-matched control subjects.<p class="...

GH and IGF-I excess causes a specific cardiomyopathy, often complicated by diastolic and systolic dysfunction until heart failure. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of long-term treatment with pegvisomant on cardiac performance in acromegalic patients. Twelve patients (4 men and 8 women, age 29–58 years) entered the study. A radionuclide angiography at rest and during exercise was performed at baseline and after 18 months of treatment with pegvisomant with ...

The pseudo-Cushing states (PCS) include several clinical conditions such as obesity, polycystic ovary syndrome, depression and alcoholism, characterized by physical features and abnormalities of hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis similar to Cushing’s syndrome (CS). The differential diagnosis between CS and PCS is often complicated and requires several hormonal tests. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the cortisol response to the or...

Background: Expression of somatostatin receptor (SST) and therapy with somatostatin analogues have been scarcely investigated in parathyroid tumors.Objective: To evaluate the effects of depot long acting octreotide (OCT-LAR) on primary hyperparathyroidism in patients affected with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN-1).Subjects and methods: Eight patients with a genetically confirmed MEN-1 were enrolled. All patients presented...

Animal and observational studies suggest that the IGF axis is involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke; moreover, endogenous IGF-I could influence the evolution of ischemic stroke in humans and thereby contribute to an improved clinical and functional outcome. To assess and correlate the IGF-I axis with biochemical parameters in young patients experiencing ischemic stroke (32 aged 15–45 years,19F, BMI: 25.5±3.4 kg/m2), we evaluated IGF-I, IGFBP-3, A...

Dopamine receptors (DR) are expressed in the majority of corticotroph pituitary tumors and the dopamine agonist cabergoline is effective in controlling cortisol hypersecretion in around 50% of patients with Cushing’s disease (CD). In order to characterize the tumors expressing D2 receptors and the profile of patients which might respond to the treatment with D2 agonists, the current study has the aim to correlate D2 receptor expression and...

Introduction and aim: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a common disorder associated with a wide range of endocrine and metabolic abnormalities. Obesity is present in about 45–50% of PCOS women. Increased cardiovascular risk factors and evidence of subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been reported in PCOS. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether visceral fat amount may be considered as predictor for early CVD in PCOS women.P...

The intensive physical activity is often associated with cardiac changes, particularly involving the right ventricular (RV) chamber. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in the RV physiologic adaptation to long-term training are not completely understood. In the present study we investigated the role of the growth hormone/insulin like growth factor 1 (GH/IGF-1) axis in the RV remodeling of athletes.Nineteen male top levels rowers and 19 age-matched...

Dopamine receptors was suggested to be expressed in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). The aim of the current study was to evaluate the expression of D2 dopamine receptor in MTC and the effectiveness of the dopamine agonist cabergoline in patients with MTC. Five paraffin-embedded cases of MTC obtained after thyroidectomy were used to evaluate D2 receptor expression by immunohistochemistry. Fifteen patients (7 males, 8 females, 36–78 years) with post-sur...