Endocrine Abstracts

Context: Evidence suggests that gabapentin, a γ-aminobutyric acid analogue, is effective in the treatment of hot flushes in women with natural or tamoxifen-induced menopause.Objective and design: To investigate the efficacy and tolerability of gabapentin for the treatment of menopausal hot flushes, a systematic review of all pertinent trials and a meta-analysis of those that were randomized placebo-controlled (RCT) were performed.<p class="abste...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by anovulation, hyperandrogenemia, and polycystic ovaries. Although the etiology of PCOS is poorly understood, the common denominator is a disturbance in the selection of the dominant follicle. TGFβ family members, such as anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), suppress FSH sensitivity. Therefore their signaling pathway may contribute to the aberrant follicle development in PCOS women. We...

Idiopathic central hypogonadism (ICH) is a rare and heterogeneous disease due to defects of GnRH secretion or action. Depending on the association with a normal or defective sense of smell, ICH could be respectively identified as normosmic ICH (nICH) or Kallmann’s syndrome (KS). Recent experimental evidences indicate the involvement of the new PROK2/PROKR2 pathway in GnRH neuron maturation and function and mutations affecting these two genes have been described in some IC...

Objective: The majority of circulating testosterone is bound to sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), but also to albumin and cortisol-binding globulin. The remaining part is free-circulating testosterone unattached to serum proteins, which represents the active form of the hormone. A common measurement of the free testosterone is the calculated free testosterone index (FTI)=100*(total testosterone/SHBG). Testosterone is the principal male sex hormone and is involved in the reg...

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental estrogen that is globally used in the production of plastics. Studies on BPA as an endocrine disruptor have focused on its estrogenic activity in vitro and in adult animal models. Recently, the National Toxicology Program at the US National Institutes of Health raised concerns for the neural and behavioral effects of BPA in fetuses, infants, and children at the currently allowed human exposures. However, the difficulty in studying u...

Background: Stroke is the second commonest reason of mortality worldwide and a major cause of long term disability. Early prediction of outcome is important for allocation of therapeutic strategies. Endocrine alterations of the hypothalamus–pituitary–axis (HPA) are one of the first stress-induced alterations after cerebral ischemia. We evaluated the prognostic value of cortisol for outcome in acute ischemic cerebrovascular events.Method: In an ...