Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: In acromegaly, 25–50% of patients remain uncontrolled with conventional somatostatin analogue (SA) therapy. Evidence suggests that response may be improved by increasing the dose or frequency of administration of SAs. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of octreotide LAR administered at a high dose or high frequency in patients with acromegaly.Methods: This was a 24-week prospective, multicenter, randomized, open-label trial in p...

In acromegalic patients growth hormone (GH) excess induces insulin resistance but whether this is sufficient, in the face of normal insulin secretion, for pre-diabetes (impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)) to occur is a matter of debate.Aim: To assess the relative role of insulin resistance and insulin secretion in the pre-diabetes of acromegaly.Methods: One hundred and twenty-four patients with acro...

Secretion of GH by pituitary somatotropes is primarily stimulated by GHRH and ghrelin and inhibited by SST through the activation of specific receptors (GHRH-R, GHS-R and Sstr1-5, respectively). However, we have previously shown that SST, at low doses, can also stimulate GH release, directly and specifically, in primary pituitary cell cultures from baboons (Papio anubis) and pigs. To determine whether these primary regulators of GH release can also regulate directly the...

Overexpression and aberrant activation of the insulin-like growth factor system plays a key role in tumor cell proliferation and tumorigenesis in many human tumors. Different therapies targeting IGF1-receptor (IGF1-R) have been developed and currently, some of these agents are evaluated in preclinical and early clinical trials with promising results. Moreover, recent studies have demonstrated that combined treatments with doxorubicin, enhance the efficiency of anti-IGF1-R ther...

Background: Obestatin, a ghrelin gene product was recently isolated but important questions remain regarding its regulation and its physiological effects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of unacylated ghrelin (UAG) on obestatin levels in normal subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).Methods: Five normal subjects and 5 T2D patients were included in this study. Unacylated ghrelin (3 μg/kg per hour) or saline were cont...

In type 2 diabetes (T2DM), cardiomiopathy is characterized by an impairment of diastolic performance resulting in ventricular hypertrophy and dilatation. Heart remodelling leads to an increase in its angle of torsion, measurable by innovative cine-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To evaluate the impact of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5i) on cardiovascular performance in T2DM, we designed a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind (subject/outcome assessor) study on ...