Endocrine Abstracts

A number of evidence indicate that mood (affective) disorders are influenced by various bioactive steroids such as corticoids, sex hormones and neuroactive steroids. However, to date, there are limited data concerning the discrimination between patients suffering from the disorders and controls, or regarding the classification of individual subtypes of mood disorders on the basis of steroid profiling. Therefore 47 steroids including their conjugates and further related substan...

Introduction: Postpartum depression affects 10–15% women after childbirth. There is no currently generally accepted theory about the causes and mechanisms of postpartum mental disorders. The principal hypothesis concerns the association with sudden changes in the production of hormones affecting the nervous system of the mother and, on the other hand, with the ability of receptor systems to adapt to these changes.Methods: We observed changes in ster...

Some steroids modulate the permeability of ionotropic receptors on cell membranes and therefore may activate or inhibit neuronal activity depending on the steroid structure. These neuroactive steroids (NAS) exert neuroprotective effects like the neuronal remyelination.Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common cause of neurological disability in young adults. Therefore, the authors have followed the neuroprotective, GABAergic, glycinergic, glutamatergic ...

Introduction: Obesity increases the incidence of hypogonadism in men, and hypogonadism in turn plays a role in obesity. One of the first mechanisms proposed to explain this was a hypothesis based on the principle that obese men have higher estrogen levels, and that increased estrogens provide feedback to the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis, reducing the secretion of gonadotropins and leading to a decrease of overall testosterone levels. This concept has since been quest...

Background of the study: There is lack of data in the Czech Republic on iodine status in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) considered to be at risk of iodine deficiency.Subjects and methods: A total of 54 males and 51 females ‒ median (25th, 75th percentile): age (years) 42 (31, 55); BMI 25.9 (23.3, 29.7); HbA1c (mmol/mol) 61 (51.2, 71.0) treated for DM1 were included in this cross–sectional study. In addition to iodine s...

Introduction: Salivary cortisol measurement, representing free cortisol, seems to be a promissing alternative method to serum cortisol. Besides its use in the diagnostics of hypercortisolism, it could be of help in evaluation of adrenocortical reserve. It might be useful especially in patients on estrogen replacement, which modulates transcortin and hence total cortisol levels.Aims: Compare the reliability of salivary vs. serum cortisol assessment during...

Introduction: Tobacco dependence is considered to be a serious psycho-social problem. Chronic smoking can cause fertility disorders with both sexes. The literature brings up contradictory results in relation to the effects of the smoking on the steroid hormones levels. Only a few papers discuss the effect of the nicotine addiction treatment.Methods: We observed 26 smokers who decided to quit smoking and abstained from smoking for one year. With everyone ...

Introduction: The dependence on tobacco, diagnosis F 17, is an independent condition in the International classification of diseases and presents one of the most widespread addictions. Chronic smoking can cause impairment of fertility in both sexes. However, only a small number of studies were dedicated to the influence of smoking on levels of steroid hormones and their neuroactive metabolites. Neuroactive steroids modulate the effects of tobacco on central nervous system, and...

Objective: Chronic smoking alters the circulating levels of sex hormones and possibly also the neuroactive steroids, however, the data available is limited.Patients and methods: Therefore, a broad spectrum of free and conjugated steroids and related substances was quantified by GC–MS and RIA in premenopausal smokers and in age-matched (38.9±7.3 years of age) non-smokers in the follicular (FP) and luteal phases (LP) of menstrual cycle (10 non-sm...

Background: Smoking represents the most widespread substance dependence in the world. Several studies show the nicotine’s ability to alter women hormonal homeostasis. Women smokers have higher testosterone and lower estradiol levels throughout life compared to women non-smokers. This negatively affects women reproductive function. Furthermore, alteration of neuroactive and neuroprotective steroids occurs in women smokers, which plays an important role in the activity of t...