Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Cyclic GMP-phosphodiesterase type 5(PDE5) inhibition was shown to counteract maladaptive cardiac changes triggered by diabetes in some, but not all studies.Objective: To assess sex differences in cardiac remodeling after PDE5 inhibition in patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy.Methods: 20-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (NCT01803828). 220 men and women (45-80 years) with long-duration (>3 ye...

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 ...

Adult growth hormone deficiency (aGHD) is characterized by an altered metabolic profile and increased cardiovascular risk. Neudesin is a newly discovered protein mainly secreted from adipose tissue and brain, under evaluation for its possible activity as negative regulator of energy expenditure. Liver expressed antimicrobial peptide (LEAP)-2 is a competitive antagonist of ghrelin on its receptor. Spexin is a polypeptide related to the galanin-kisspeptin family, secreted along ...

Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) is a glycoprotein synthetized by various cell types, including neutrophils, that acts as siderophores scavenger and play an important role in different chronic inflammatory processes. Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency (AGHD), both partial and total, are characterized by inflammatory features. The objectives of our cross-sectional study were: 1) to compare LCN2 levels in these clinical pictures; 2) to evaluate the relations between...

Background: Ghrelin and its endogenous antagonist liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide-2 (LEAP-2) are involved in GH secretion, both acting on GSH-r1α, and regulation of glucose and lipids metabolism. Metabolic impairments are often accompanied by an upregulation of LEAP-2 expression, with a usual concomitant reduction in ghrelin secretion. Adult growth hormone deficiency (aGHD), characterized by weight gain, increased fat mass and insulin resistance, represent a conditi...

Patients affected by adult growth hormone deficiency (aGHD) show worse metabolic profile, with insulin-resistance, increased total cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides, reduced HDL, and higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular complications. Adult GHD and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are closely related to each other, since they share the previous depicted clinical features, while obese MetS patients display lower IGF-1 levels due to a functional reduction...

Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD) is a condition characterized by low grade chronic inflammation; increased levels of free light chains of immunoglobulins have been described; moreover, it shares some features with metabolic syndrome (MetS), including insulin resistance and oxidative stress, but with a different pattern of antioxidant response. Finally, it is known that GH, directly or via IGF-1 activity, influences many aspects of immune response; both humoral and cellula...

Aim: Low sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is accompanied with onset of diabetes (DM) and increased cardiovascular risk (CVR). Proinflammatory cytokines, including adiponectin (APN) influence SHBG production. Lipid accumulation product (LAP) advocates as an indicator of increased CVR. We investigated the influence of different types of DM and sex on CVR through changes in SHBG and related risk factors.Methods: Due to the non-normal distribution of indi...

Background: Depressive symptoms (DS) and diabetes-related distress (DD) are common comorbidities in diabetic patients adversely affecting diabetes self-management and patients’ well-being.Aim: To examine associations between DS and DD with glycaemic control, quality of life and diabetes self-management.Materials and methods: Depressive symptoms, DD, quality of life, diabetes self-management and metabolic indicators were asses...

In humans and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) the zona reticularis of the adrenal gland produces large amounts of dehydoepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfated form, DHEAS. The circulating levels of these steroids are particularly high during early adulthood, and they then decline gradually during aging, especially in females. To help elucidate the physiological function of this steroidal loss we examined the 24-hour plasma profiles of DHEAS in female rhesus monkeys, us...