Endocrine Abstracts

The X-linked genes accounting for the determination of the ovarian function are still undefined. In the last few years, a large interest has been dedicated to the BMP15 gene. BMP15 gene encodes for a TGFβ-like growth factor of oocyte origin with a critical role in female fertility in mammals and several other species. This gene maps to a locus on the short arm of X chromosome were locates several traits of TS, including ovarian failure. Several missense variations have be...

Poorly differentiated thyroid cancers are associated with variable types of p53 function derangements and bad prognosis due to the lack of effective treatments. SP600125 is a widely used JNK-inhibitor which recently showed anticancer properties in a p53 related way. Here, we tested the effect of SP600125 on four different thyroid cancer cell lines derived from PDTCs and ATCs with different p53 status.We analyzed the effects on cellular replication and ap...

White adipose tissue (WAT) stores excess energy as triglycerides, while brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates energy through heat, acting as a defense against cold and obesity and as a positive regulator of metabolic functions. The thermogenic function of BAT is mainly regulated by the mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in brown adipocytes. Moreover, it has been shown that chronic exposure to glucocorticoids (GC) or synthetic GC receptor (GR) agonists inhibits the activ...

Introduction: Even with a high incidence of infertility owing to the suppressive effects of hypercortisolism in the gonadal axis, either associated or not to hyperandrogenism and ovulatory dysfunction, Cushing’s syndrome (CS) during pregnancy has been reported. This could be due to a greater rate of CS among women in reproductive age; however, it is a rare condition, with fewer than 200 cases reported in the literature. In general, CS affects 2–25 people to every 1...

Introduction: In addition to its well known effects on calcium homeostasis and bone metabolism, growing evidences shows that vitamin D plays an important role in regulation of cancer angiogenesis, cell apoptosis, differentiation, and proliferation. Vitamin D acts through vitamin D receptor (VDR), an intracellular nuclear receptor. It was found an association between different cancer histotypes and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of VDR. Despite the close relationship be...

Introduction: Aerobic (AER) and resistance (RES) exercise similarly improve HbA1c levels in type 2 diabetes subjects. However, it is still unknown whether exercise-induced acute changes in blood glucose differ according to exercise type. Our aim was to compare glucose level changes after a single bout of AER or RES exercise in trained diabetic subjects.Methods: Twenty-five subjects participating in the RAED2 Study, a RCT designed to compare the effects o...

Introduction: Bone metabolism is impaired in several lipid storage diseases. At now no data are available in Fabry disease (FD), a genetic lipid storage disease characterized by systemic accumulation of glicolipids. The aim of this study was to evaluate bone metabolism and calcium/vitamin-D pathway in patients with FD.Methods/design: Study population included 15 FD patients (8 M and 7 F, age 28–59 years) and 15 sex-, age- and BMI-matched normal subj...

Background: The prostate cancer (CaP) is among the most commonly diagnosed cancers, accounting for about 20% of all newly diagnosed cancers. Subject of recent studies is the role of vitamin D in the pathogenesis of CaP. Literature data speculated about the role of vitamin D in the progression of Cap. In addition, several studies have shown an association between VDR gene polymorphism FokI and CaP especially in the Asian population.Objective: The aim of t...

Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ releasing adipokines and expressing specific markers and intracellular mediators, which regulate whole-body energy by balancing lipid accumulation and utilization through adipogenesis, the differentiation of preadipocytes into mature adipocytes associated with gradual lipid storage, and lipogenesis, the additional lipid accumulation in mature adipocytes. Adipogenesis and lipogenesis, strongly induced by insulin, occur in white adipocytes, s...

Obesity, characterized by an abnormal body fat accumulation mainly caused by a chronic imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, is a massive public health problem. Targeting excessive fat deposition in adipose tissue and ectopic fat accumulation in skeletal muscle through promoting lipid oxidation pathway may represent a promising strategy to counteract obesity. This study aims at investigating the effects of cabergoline (CAB), a dopamine agonist, on adipose and skelet...