Endocrine Abstracts

It is well-known that follicular development is associated with many morphological and functional changes. As long as the follicle develops and matures to the preovulatory stage, the availability of oxygen progressively diminishes and the environment becomes hypoxic; one of the most important effects induced by hypoxia on granulosa cells is the induction of angiogenesis. Our aims were: 1) to investigate whether hypoxia alters the production of estrogen and progesterone in swin...

Serum of infertile males and that of proven fathers (n=717) was analysed for the measurement of sperm concentration, serum LH, FSH and testosterone. Earlier, when classified on the basis of sperm count, 13% males turned out to be azoospermic, 15% oligozoospermic, 0.025% polyzoospermic and 42% normozoospermic in a five year analysis. Oligozoospermic subjects were further classified as mild, moderate and severe oligozoospermic. Hormonal analysis indicated normal levels of LH and...

Asthenozoospermia was seen in 43% patients (n = 516), either singly, or in combination with other semen disorders. For this study, 186 patients were divided into two groups of 93 patients each. In the treated group, the patients were advised vitamin A and E therapy for 12 weeks, while the placebo group was not administered anything. In all the patients in the treated group, sperm motility increased significantly (p < 0.05). The mean motility increase in the treated group w...

IntroductionMetabolic homeostasis in the testis is essential for a healthy spermatogenesis. Insulin is regarded as one of the most important intervenients in the metabolic regulation of spermatogenesis, where it acts directly on the differentiation of spermatogonia into primary spermatocytes or indirectly through the metabolic modulation of Sertoli cells. Additionally, insulin is hypothesized to play a major role on human spermatozoa capacitation, althou...

Head and neck paragangliomas (HNPs) are tumors derived from the neuroectoderm. HNPs are generally hormonally silent and often asymptomatic. They can be part of the Pheochromocytoma/ Paraganglioma Syndrome, due to mutations of SDHB, SDHC and SDHD genes. SDHD founder effects have been described in the Netherland, USA, Italy and Spain.We identified a new founder effect in a small geographic area (Valsugana-Trentino, actually 50.000 inhabitants), with high a...

Autoimmune hypothyroidism due to thyroid stimulation blocking antibodies (TSB-Ab) is uncommon. When occurring in pregnancy, this condition may be responsible for feto-neonatal complications as a result of both maternal hypothyroidism and trans-placental TSB-Ab transfer to the fetus.Clinical case: September 2010: a 27 year-old woman was diagnosed with autoimmune severe hypothyroidism (TSH 325 mIU/l (n.v 0.4–4.0), FT4 1.54 pmol/l (n.v. 11.5...

Aim of the study: To test B-Lymphocyte Stimulator (BLyS) as a new serological marker in the follow-up of patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NET).Methods: Eighty-one consecutive patients with NET and 56 age and sex-matched controls were enrolled in the study. According to the clinical course, patients were classified in 2 subgroups: evidence of persistent but stable disease or in remission (n=45) and patients with evidence of recurrent disease (p...

Studies have demonstrated that ATP-sensitive potassium channel (KATP) subunits SUR2A (sulfonylurea receptor) and KIR6.2 are involved in glucose uptake into skeletal muscle. It is known that the glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) expression is highest in oxidative type I fibers, pointing out the important role of oxidative muscles as glucose uptakes. Considering these aspects the aim of this study was to investigate whether KATP channel can influence glucose uptake in oxidative musc...

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is not only the first cause of female infertility but also a complex, endocrine, multifaceted disease with important health implications. PCOS is often associated to the metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance represents the main characteristics for both these syndromes. The metabolic disturbances characteristic of insulin-resistant states have been linked to the role of mitochondrial function and in particular to the maximal oxygen cons...

Introduction: Obesity is a major risk factor for mortality from a range of causes. We investigated whether skinfold measurements predict mortality independently of variation in body mass index (BMI).Methods: A prospective analysis of mortality in 870 apparently healthy adult Caucasian men participating in an occupational health cohort was undertaken. At baseline, skinfold measurements were taken at biceps, triceps, iliac and ...