Endocrine Abstracts

Mammalian pregnancy is characterized by tremendous changes and adaptations in the endocrine as well as in the immune system. Early in pregnancy, levels of female sex hormones, progesterone (P4) and estradiol (E2) produced by the corpora lutea (CL) significantly rise, promoting huge modifications of the uterine epithelium ensuring embryo implantation. Once the embryo is implanted, trophoblast cells produce and release increasing levels of human chorionic g...

Background: The appropriate risk stratification of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is crucial because most cases have an indolent behavior and need a conservative approach. One of the most widely used tools is included in the American Thyroid Association (ATA) Guidelines, based on heterogeneous literature data derived by different populations, settings, and timeframes. Recent research focused on the inclusion of other features or questioned the clinical relev...

Bronchopulmonary endocrine tumors represent 25–30% of lung neoplasms. Surgery provides good survival for differentiated tumors (typical and atypical carcinoids), but is not useful for aggressive poorly differentiated forms. Somatostatin (SRIF) analogs can be used as medical therapy, prolonging patient survival. However, the compounds employed so far did not display antiproliferative effects. Recently, a new stable SRIF analog, pasireotide (SOM230), which activates SSTR1, ...

Introduction: The detection of a unique genetic marker is not possible for multifactorial diseases, such as thyroid cancer (TC), where the pathological phenotype is given by the contribution of multiple genes, environmental factors and lifestyle. We found a mathematical model for inferring the risk of thyroid cancer, an example of multifactorial disease.Methods: Genetic data represented by 184 SNPs associated to thyroid tumors were used for Bayesian clus...

Hair loss after surgical treatment for acromegaly has been rarely described. We report a case of a patient with acromegaly that presented with hair loss after surgical treatment.We describe a case of a 73-year female that was diagnosed with acromegaly. Transesphenoidal surgery was performed with complete tumour resection and no immediate complications. Postoperative IGF -1, GH and OGTT for GH were measured at 12 weeks confirming biochemical remission. Th...

Introduction: Ectopic thyroid glands are generally a rare entity appearing mostly in the cervical midline (90% of the cases) and even more rarely in other anatomical sites (10%).Clinical report: We present the case of an ectopic submandibular thyroid gland. A 31-year-old woman was referred to our department with a history of left submandibular swelling.A scintigraphy was performed, which showed an accumulation of activity in the ri...

Introduction: Appropriately titrated levothyroxine (L-T4) replacement therapy may not be able to fully correct the entire set of metabolic defects afflicting individuals with primary hypothyroidism. Based on this hypothesis, the present study was undertaken to establish whether these patients have impaired whole body energy metabolism.Methods: We recruited 30 hypothyroid women with duration of the disease >2 years, BMI >...

Background: High prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in diabetic patients has been reported and has been associated with microvascular complications and insulin treatment in type 2 diabetic patients.Methods: Observational study in 92 inhospital patients with different types of diabetes. We analyzed the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) concentration and the clinical features associated with diabetes.Results: Of 36...

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of several neoplasias and the IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) may have a role as autocrine/paracrine factors in regulating the local actions of the IGFs. In the present study we investigated IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-1, IGFBP-2, and IGFBP-3 production in cultured media from three human lung cancer cell lines (Calu-3, Calu-6, A549) and in human neoplastic and normal lung tissue samples obtained at surgery fr...

Establishing failure of trans-sphenoidal surgery (TSS) to cure Cushing’s disease in the immediate post-operative period is essential for early surgical re-exploration. However, there is no consensus regarding the definition of apparent cure. We studied whether the dexamethasone-suppressed corticotrophin-releasing hormone test (LDDST-CRH test) immediately following TSS could accurately identify those with Cushing’s disease requiring further definitive treatment.<p...