Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Primary aldosteronism (PA) features a higher prevalence of cardiovascular events and renal complications as compared with essential hypertension. The effects of aldosterone excess on ascending aorta have never been investigated in human subjects.Methods: From August 2014 to December 2015, we enrolled forty-seven consecutive PA outpatients who had not undergone surgery of the adrenal mass. Hypercortisolism and pheochromocytoma were excluded....

Background and aim: Epicardial fat (EF) is a metabolically active organ as well as visceral fat (VF). EF has been recognized as a potential additional marker of cardiac risk in obesity and type 2 diabetes. This study wants to assess the relation between EF and VF and the correlation with nutritional and hormonal parameters.Material and Methods: Fifty-nine overweight/obese women were enrolled in the study. All women underwent anthropometric measurements, ...

Introduction: Purpose of this study is to find a radiological score and to correlate radiological characteristics of adrenal adenomas and functional parameters to predict subclinical glucocorticoid secretion.Methods and materials: This retrospective study included 55 patients with adenomas, investigated through CT with adrenal protocol assessing diameters, HU values of the unenhanced and contrast enhanced phases (enhanced–E, and 15 min delayed enhan...

Steroid profiling by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) offers an accurate and simultaneous detection of a panel of steroids with several advantages over traditional assays. However, only a few studies have investigated the steroid profiling in sporadic adrenocortical adenomas. Our aim was therefore to investigate steroid secretion by LC–MS/MS in patients with non-secreting adrenocortical adenomas (NSA) and subclinical hypercortisolism (SH...

Introduction: The relationship between food intake and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis has been studied in the development of visceral adiposity and obesity. The HPA axis may interact with the reward system, thus influencing food choices. On the other hand, it has been shown that macronutrients differently modulate the HPA axis activity.The aim of this study was to evaluate the dietary habits in subjects with adrenal masses (adenoma o...

Background: Subclinical Cushing’s syndrome (SCS) is defined as alterations in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis without classic signs or symptoms of glucocorticoid excess. It is still controversial whether SCS leads to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, and if the degree of subclinical hypercortisolism may predict these clinical outcomes.Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of hypertension, type-2 diabetes (T2D), coronary heart disease (C...

The epidemic of obesity and diabetes is increased worldwide, and both are more prevalent in PCOS than non-PCOS ovulatory women. In the general population, the risk of cardiovascular mortality is at least doubled in women with extreme obesity (BMI>40 kg/m2). To explore if PCOS adds further metabolic detriment to extreme obesity, this prospective study compared the metabolic profiles, OGTT-derived insulin sensitivity and body composition between 30 adult PCOS and ...

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is currently believed a common endocrine-plurimetabolic disorder often associated to insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperandrogenism, dyslipidemia and obesity, pathological conditions predisposing to high cardiovascular risk. Oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction could represent early mechanisms of the cardiovascular risk in patients with PCOS. In order to confirm this hypothesis, 25 young (23.8±1.3 yr), over-w...

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age often associated with insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus, hyperandrogenism, dislipidemia, obesity and hypertension, pathological conditions predisposing to high cardiovascular risk. Insulin resistant subjects may have higher plasma renin activity and it is well known that aldosterone plays a well-recognized role in the pathophysiology of hypertension and in the development of...

Background: Steroid profiling by mass spectrometry (MS) provided novel insights into the pathogenesis of adrenocortical tumors and hypercortisolism. The aims of the study were (I) to analyze the steroid profiling by liquid chromatography-tandem MS (LC-MS/MS) in a large cohort of patients with adrenal incidentalomas and (II) to investigate the relationship between steroid profile and clinical outcomes.Methods: We included 307 patients with mono- and bilat...