Endocrine Abstracts

Exercise is one of the major determinants of a healthy lifestyle, being crucial in childhood as a powerful preventive tool. On the other hand, obesity and arterial hypertension rate has been increasing in children, thus increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in adult life. Of vital importance is the modality and volume of exercise required to get benefits. In this feasibility study 35 obese children were enrolled. Autonomic and metabolic contro...

Background and aim: Sirtuin1 (SIRT1) and sclerostin play important roles in adipose tissue and bone metabolism. SIRT1 pharmacological induction improves bone quality both in murine and human models and- as adiposity increases – its expression decreases both in peripheral tissues and blood. Sclerostin reduces osteoblasts’ differentiation and mineralization and is associated with DMT2, obesity and cardiovascular risk. We evaluated the circulating SIRT1 and sclerostin r...

In patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency, life-long glucocorticoid (GC) treatment is often required to replace cortisol deficiency and to avoid the ACTH-dependent androgen levels increase. However, in these patients, the multiple daily doses required with conventional GCs can cause cortisol overexposure, leading to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MS), an impaired quality of life (QoL), and poor treatment compliance (TC). T...

Life-long glucocorticoid (GC) treatment is needed in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency in order to replace cortisol deficiency and to control ACTH and consequently androgen levels. Therefore, patients with CAH tend to have an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MS), probably due to cortisol overexposure, caused by multiple daily doses of conventional GCs, unable to mimic cortisol circadian rhythm. The current study aimed at i...

SAT due to viral infections is a cause of thyrotoxicosis, neck pain and tenderness on palpation. In the COVID-19 era, SAT seems to be a manifestation of the disease which occurs during SARS-CoV-2 infection. In 2021, some SAT cases were reported after COVID-19 vaccination. We reviewed the incidence of SAT from 2000 to 2021. In the Savona district vaccination of the general population started in February 2021 and progressively involved fragile, healthy elderly, adult and young-a...

This group has previously audited the effect of a protocol for investigation of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP); the protocol stating that only patients meeting criteria for parathyroidectomy should have parathyroid imaging carried out. This showed a reduction in the number of radiological investigations (USS, CT, MRI and sestamibi scans) done in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism following introduction of this protocol.The aim of this audit was...

Background: The recognition of the erectile dysfunction (ED) pathogenesis is essential to identify the appropriate ED management. Since vascular ED (vED) could be a manifestation of a systemic arterial damage, the watershed in the ED diagnostic framework is the discrimination between psychological (pED) and vED. However, reliable tools to directly diagnose pED are currently lacking.Aim of the study: To identify which parameters could predict pED. Moreove...

Introduction: Acromegaly is caused by excessive growth hormone production and elevated IGF-1 levels. Annual incidence rates are reported to be between 0.2 and 1.1 cases/100 000 people, with a prevalence of 2.8–13.7 cases/100 000 people. Small numbers make it difficult to differentiate any differences between sex. A recent increase in the number of females diagnosed with acromegaly at our centre, voiced a need for peer and psychological support. It is known that acromegaly...

IntroductionVitamin D (VitD) is thought to be essential for adequate testosterone (T) secretion in men. In the absence of D-hypovitaminosis, their blood T levels and T to estradiol (E2) ratio values are higher relative to those with VitD deficiency. The correlation between VitD levels and androgenization indices in men of different ages has not been practically studied.The aimTo study blood levels of T and th...

In the context of the cross-talk between the neuroendocrine and immune systems, it is well known that GH exerts physiological effects in central as well as peripheral compartments of the immune system. GH modulates a variety of thymic functions. For example, GH upregulates proliferation of thymocytes and thymic epithelial cells. Accordingly, GH-transgenic mice, as well as animals and humans treated with exogenous GH, exhibit an enhanced cellularity in the organ. GH also stimul...