Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The response to first-generation long-acting somatostatin analogues (LA-SSA) treatment in acromegaly depends on the expression of the somatostatin receptor (SSTR) subtypes. In contrast to octreotide and lanreotide which preferentially bind to SSTR2, pasireotide targets multiple SSTRs, with the highest binding affinity for SSTR5. It has previously been suggested that SSTR5 expression could predict the response to pasireotide LAR (PAS-LAR) treatment in acromegaly.</p...

Some studies reports the high prevalence of unsuspected hypercortisolism in high-risk populations.Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of undiagnosed hypercortisolism in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), adrenal incidentaloma and obesity.Material and methods: We prospectively evaluated 30 DM patients (8 male, 22 female, 53.5 years old (18; 73), HbA1c-7.1% (5.6; 13.8)), 22 patients with adrenal incidentaloma (6 male, 16 female, 53.5 ...

Introduction: The GH/IGF-I axis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of breast cancer and development of tamoxifen resistance. We have previously used siRNA to successfully silence the IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. To further characterize the growth changes that occur when elements of the GH/IGF-I axis are disrupted we investigated the use of siRNA to cause long term silencing of IGF-IR.Methods: MCF-7 cells were cultured in phe...

Introduction: There is an increasing evidence of vitamin D role in maintaining normal glucose homeostasis. Gestational diabetes (GD) is related to insulin resistance and vitamin D deficiency has been linked with GD risk in some studies.Aims: To assess whether vitamin D levels are related with gestational diabetes in a group of healthy pregnant women.Subjects: The whole group included 845 pregnant women recruited from April 2009 to ...

Background: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a rare condition that is associated with life long risk of adrenal crisis. Management of CAH demands a fine balance between excess glucocorticoid leading to adverse effects and too little glucocorticoid risking adrenal crises. Frequent occurrence of sick day episodes warrants dose adjustment and education regarding adrenal crisis. In a condition such as CAH it is difficult to collect sufficient data from small cohorts at a si...

Purpose: Growth Hormone (GH) and Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-I) are currently the principal biomarkers used to assess disease activity in acromegaly and any discrepancy between them renders interpretation of results inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of discrepant results and identify parameters that might affect the emergence of this phenomenon.Methods: A systematic review of Medline and Scopus was performed (1987&...

Glucocorticoids (GC) influence immune responses, and exogenous GC are widely used clinically for their potent anti-inflammatory effects. Endogenous GC action is modulated by pre-receptor GC metabolising enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11b-HSD). 11b-HSD1 predominantly reactivates GCs, amplifying their action. Recent work has shown that 11b-HSD1 modulates immune and inflammatory response. However how innate immune system affect GC metabolism within cells remains la...

Background: Acromegaly is associated with increased morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease. Hypertension is a number of common cardiovascular risk factors in acromegalic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate association between the frequencies of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) I/D and angiotensinogen (AGT) M235T polymorphisms, the genes belongs to the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, and clinical parameters of acromegaly patients.<...

Objective: To identify factors influencing the development of osteoarthritis during long-term control of acromegaly, focusing on disease specific parameters, growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) concentrations and duration of disease, adjusted for the well-known determinants of primary osteoarthritis.Design: Follow-up study.Methods: We studied 67 patients, with adequate biochemical control of acromegaly for ...

Background: The GH-IGF system plays an important role in strength gain. Some studies suggest that Zinc, Magnesium and Pyridoxine (ZMA) supplementation could increase GH/IGF and testosterone levels in young subjects. This hypothetical increase could lead to significant changes in body composition. ZMA is a very popular supplement, easily found in specialty stores, and it is presumed to increase GH, IGF-I and testosterone levels. However, studies are divergent regarding its effi...