Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Familial resemblance was shown for body composition and risk factors in several studies. In twin studies which are powerful tool to assess genetically mediated traits significant resemblance was found in twins reared apart. In pairs of monozygotic twins was found significant resemblance in response to positive and negative energy balance. Aim of the study was to evaluate relationship of anthropometric parameters of parents and socioeconomic characteristics of famil...

Serum and glucocorticoid-induced kinase 1 (Sgk1) is an early transcriptional target of glucocorticoids with antiapoptotic effects. Sgk1 becomes active after phosphorylation by growth factors such as insulin and IGF1 through the PI3 kinase/PDK1 pathway. Activated Sgk1 increases the cellular uptake of glucose by increasing the membrane abundance of glucose transporters GLUT1 and GLUT4. Here we present data on the expression and regulation of Sgk1 in adipose tissue using three di...

Somatotroph adenomas are characterized by growth hormone hypersecretion and cell proliferation. We have previously identified crosstalk between the cAMP pathway and the MAPKinases ERK1/2 cascade and shown the central place of the MAPKinases in the control of the pituitary function in GH4C1 somatolactotroph cell line.The spatio-temporal organization of the signalling partners governs signalling fidelity and encodes the specificity of biological responses....

Background: Etiology of infertility and miscarriages is multifactorial. Negative impact of overt thyroid dysfunction on fertility, pregnancy and development of offspring is known. Moreover, even presence of euthyroid autoimmune thyroid diseases may increase risk of miscarriages. The prevalence of positive antibodies to thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb) ranges 9–39% in women with recurrent miscarriages and 0–37% in controls. The aim of the study was to compare serum concentr...

Context: Phaeochromocytomas are rare, but potentially fatal, neoplasms. The diagnosis and localization of phaeochromocytoma can be challenging and recently there has been some debate regarding the role for adrenal venous sampling (AVS). The utility of AVS in this setting is hampered by a lack of normative value data for adrenal vein catecholamine concentrations and the reliability of lateralization ratios. We sought to address these concerns by analyzing AVS catecholamine conc...

Historically, the 131I whole body scan played a central role in the assessment of disease status in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.In 2006, the European Thyroid Cancer Taskforce published a new Consensus Statement. It favoured the use of stimulated serum thyroglobulin measurement and neck ultrasound for follow up of disease activity. The use of diagnostic 131I whole body scan was no longer recommended as a routine test....

We present data on open reading frame 62 encoded on human chromosome 6 (C6orf62), a gene whose protein expression and function has not been described to date. The gene product of C6orf62 was designated pituitary associated regulator of hormone secretion (PARS).Initial gene expression screens showed that PARS transcription is differentially regulated in secreting and non-secreting pituitary adenomas, as well as in normal pituitary tissue. Inspired ...

Cushing’s syndrome during pregnancy is a rare disorder. A 32-year-old pregnant woman presented with Cushing’s syndrome. She had had a medical abortion complicated with bleeding for anencephaly by 15 weeks of her first pregnancy. At the beginning of her second pregnancy, typical clinical signs of Cushing syndrome developed: extensive red stretch marks on the abdomen and thighs, excessive weight gain (24 kg over 17 weeks) and high blood pressure (150/90 mmHg). By week ...

The effect of gonadectomy and gonadal hormone replacement on the adrenal cortex activity was studied in the adult male sand rat Psammomys obesus, a diurnal gerbillid rodent living in Beni-Abbes area, in the Algerian Sahara desert (30°7 N, 2°10 W). Animals freshly captured were orchiectomized during the breeding season and some animals received testosterone oenanthate (75 μg per 40 μl olive’s oil) twice a day during 7 days, 3 weeks after gonadect...

To date only seven cases of naturally occuring inactivating mutations of the aromatase gene in men have been documented. Osteoporosis is one of the typical signs of the aromatase deficiency in male patients. We report results of estrogen therapy in patient with formerly described frameshift mutation of the CYP19 gene, ins 1058 T. Bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed during three phases of estrogen therapy. Patient was substituted by calcium and vitamin D throughout t...