Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Assessment of the efficacy of surgical treatment for Cushing’s disease (CD) is one of the biggest challenges in contemporary endocrinology. The aim of this study was prospective evaluation of factors influencing the result of transsphenoidal surgery for CD.Methods: The study population consisted of 36 consecutive patients with CD hospitalized in the Department of Endocrinology from 2005 to 2009 and operated on using the same surgical p...

Men living at high altitudes in Peru compared to sea level counterparts have erythrocytosis (Hemoglobin: 16–21 g/dl) or excessive erythrocytosis (Hemoglobin>21 g/dl). High testosterone (T) levels in men at high altitude (HA) were associated with excessive erythrocytosis. High androgen levels could be due to a low aromatase activity or to an elevated rate of conversion from precursors to testosterone. The aim of this study was to evaluate aromatase activity and rate of...

ObjectiveThere is large inter-individual variation in the growth hormone (GH) response to resistance exercise, but the intra-individual variation is unknown. This study aimed to determine the reproducibility of the GH response to a 30-min resistance exercise session.DesignFollowing local Ethics Committee approval, nine male participants were familiarised before completing three trials in a random order. Durin...

The blood-brain barrier for peptide hormones is protective for the maternal brain.OBJECTIVE: To compare peptide hormone levels on the two sides of the blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier in pregnant, non pregnant and menopausal women.METHODS: We investigated, with the approval of the local ethics committee, 35 healthy pregnant women at term, aged 21-41 years (group G), 27 non-pregnant women aged 21-43 years (group C) and 15 menopausa...

Background: A recent, large phase III study (n=162) showed that treatment with pasireotide rapidly decreased urinary free cortisol (UFC) levels and improved signs and symptoms in patients with Cushing’s disease. Here, we report the experience of a patient enrolled in this trial who received pasireotide for 36 months.Results: A 31-year-old male presented in June 2008 with persistent Cushing’s disease despite two previous pituitary surgica...

‘Silent’ ACTH-secreting pituitary adenomas are not characterized by specific clinical features that would suggest the presence of hypercortisolism. In contrast, they present as non-functioning pituitary macroadenomas with either visual compromise or hypercortisolism. However, immunostaining reveals ACTH-secreting cells.In order to characterize the laboratory features of these tumours, we have preoperatively assessed 56 patients with either clin...

A 53 year old man with ANCA-positive glomerulonephritis was referred with a 3-month history of hypercalcaemia. There was no significant family history and treatment consisted of Maxepa concentrated fish oils 5g/day for glomerulonephritis and lansoprazole plus Bisodol (proprietary indigestion preparation containing calcium, magnesium and sodium bicarbonate) for a hiatus hernia. Investigations revealed a corrected calcium concentration of 3.06 mmol/l, phosphate 1.27 mmol/l, crea...

Introduction: Primary bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia (PBMAH) is an uncommon cause (<1%) of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome (CS). Recently, due to increased number of incidental imaging findings of PBMAH, the clinical expression of the disease has changed in favor of oligosymptomatic or subclinical cases, compared to those with clinically manifest CS, or rarely with secretion of mineralocorticoids, or sex steroids.Case report: A 51-yea...

3-iodothyronamine (T1AM) is an endogenous thyroid hormone derivative which produces profound metabolic effects such as a shift in fuel substrate utilization from carbohydrates to lipid. Thus, in the present work we investigated the effects of T1AM on hepatic glucose metabolism.To assess metabolite release, human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) were exposed for 4 h to different concentrations of exogenous T1AM (0.1, 1 and 10 μM) in glucose pro...

Introduction: The treatment of choice in Cushing’s disease (CD) is transsphenoidal surgery (TSS). The success of surgical procedure is of particular importance in terms of patient`s prognosis. The aim of this study was the prospective evaluation of compatibility of coupled 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test and 10 μg desmopressin stimulation test (CDDT) with standard criteria of remission in CD.Methods: The study population consisted of 36 pat...