Endocrine Abstracts

Hypoparathyroidism is a disorder of mineral homoeostasis due to parathyroid hormone (PTH) deficiency. Conventional treatment with oral Ca and calcitriol may maintain serum Ca levels but does not replace other physiologic PTH effects. RACE is an ongoing open-label study of recombinant human PTH1-84 (rhPTH1-84) for hypoparathyroidism treatment in adults (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01297309). Patients initially received rhPTH1-84 25 or 50 μg/day subcutaneously, with 25-μg in...

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy and most of the therapeutic strategies are not yet prospectively validated. However, several studies have been published in 2010 and preliminary results from two prospective trials are available now.Open adrenalectomy is treatment of choice for resectable tumors. However, two recent retrospective studies provided evidence that a laparoscopic approach might be also a safe alternative in selected cases (e...

M Sheppard, University of Birmingham, UK AbstractProfessor Michael Sheppard was appointed as Provost and Vice-Principal of the University of Birmingham on 1 October 2008. The Provost has responsibilities for financial and human resources and the development and delivery of the University strategic plan with special responsibility for the University's external and international relations.Profess...

Background: As a trace element selenium (Se) is essential for man and animals, in particular for the maintenance of spermatogenesis and male fertility. A growing number of evidence shows that Se is necessary for testosterone synthesis, and inappropriate concentration, Se can stimulate Leydig cell proliferation. However, Se can also act as a metalloestrogen, which can mimic estrogen and activate the estrogen receptors. In higher concentrations, Se might have an adverse effect o...

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase γ (PI3Kγ) is key to inflammation, allergy, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease.1 PI3Kγ is a drug target in chronic inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis,2 atherosclerosis3 and allergic responses.4,5 Localized, PI3Kγ-mediated PtdIns (3,4,5)P3 production5, and a distinct role of Ras selectively activating the p84–PI3Kγ-complex, can modulate PI3Kγ...

Pituitary tumours are usually benign, but aggressive local growth may occur. Malignancy with demonstrable extracranial metastases is rarely seen. Tumour formation is probably the result of genetic changes involving tumour suppressor gene inactivation and oncogene activation. Pituitary adenomas that occur in a familial setting account for 4–5% of the tumours, they can be part of endocrine-related tumour syndromes. In 2006, Vierimaa et al.1 reported the re...

A-M Colao, University Federico II of Naples, Naples, Italy. AbstractDr Annamaria Colao has been involved in clinical laboratory research since 1980 as a student in Medicine. At that time, she entered into the study group of hypothalamus-pituitary tumours and was mentored by Dr Gaetano Lombardi. Since that time, her publications and research have focused on pituitary tumours, especially prolactinomas and acromegaly. Bes...

The greatly improved survival of children and adolescents with malignancy now makes it important to assess the long-term adverse effects of cancer therapy. Loss of fertility is reported by cancer survivors to be a major concern. In women, this largely relates to gonadotoxicity of chemotherapy or local radiotherapy; uterine damage is less common and follows pelvic surgery or radiotherapy. All chemotherapeutic agents are gonadotoxic, but particularly the alkylating agents such a...

Background: Bronchial carcinoids (BC) are still orphan of medical therapy. We previously demonstrated that the typical BC human cell line NCI-H727 is sensitive to Everolimus, in terms of cell viability reduction, while the atypical human BC cell line NCI-H720 is not. However, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have not been fully clarified.Aim: The aim of our study is to investigate the mechanisms of resistance to mTOR inhibitors in BC cells.<...

IntroductionIt has been estimated that prevalence of vitamin D deficit (25(OH)D) in the world is between 20 and 100%, depending on age group, ethnicity and region. In European population, the prevalence is around 40%. The Endocrine society guidelines recommend the supplementation of vitamin D when vitamin D deficiency is confirmed. The objective of this work is to evaluate the effect of 25(OH)D supplementation on phospho-calcium metabolites: calcium (Ca)...