Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a common cause of secondary hypertension. Antihypertensive agents interfere with the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis, and screening with the aldosterone to renin ratio (ARR) is preferably made without medication. Withdrawal may however be harmful. We examined the detection rate of PA in hypertensive patients taking their prescribed medication, apart from amiloride and spironolactone.Design and setting: Hyperten...

Background: Hypovitaminosis D represents at present a worldwide public health problem. Recent studies have demonstrated the pleiotropic effects of vitamin D, in addition to its known actions on calcium-phosphorus metabolism. Among the several non-skeletal effects, a potential anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory action has been suggested. Vitamin D deficiency has been reported in several chronic conditions associated with increased inflammation and deregulation of the immune...

According to the findings of recent epidemiological research, thyroid complaints are among the most frequent endocrine illnesses in Italy. Being positively correlated to MPV, the mean platelet volume, in subjects with hypothyroidism, it has been hypothesised in literature that TSH can have a probable prothrombotic effect. The mean platelet volume (MPV), PCT (plateletcrit), PDV (platelet distribution width) and P-LCR (platelet large scale ratio) indicate the dimensions of plate...

Background: Among patients diagnosed with primary aldosteronism (PA) due to an aldosterone producing adenoma (APA), about 10% fail to normalize aldosterone hypersecretion after unilateral adrenalectomy, and may instead have bilateral aldosterone producing hyperplasia. With routine histopathology it may be difficult to distinguish between APA and hyperplasia. We have recently reported the use of specific antibodies to identify the source of aldosterone excess in the removed adr...

Context: Initial studies reported that RET rearrangements, RAS mutations and BRAF mutation are mutually exclusive genetic events in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Subsequently, simultaneous occurrence of BRAF mutation and RET/PTC or H4-PTEN has been described in few PTC cases, indicating that these genetic alterations might coexist in PTC in the same cell or in different cells, at least sporadically. In light of the recent finding that frequently BRAF mutation is present o...

Background: Primary aldosteronism (PA) accounts for 5–10% of all hypertension. In about 30% of PA patients the disease is unilateral caused by an adenoma or rarely unilateral hyperplasia. Cure rate from unilateral adrenalectomy, defined as normalized aldosterone secretion, is high but only 30–35% will obtain complete resolution of hypertension. We have studied pre- and postoperative characteristics potentially important for biochemical cure and normotension after adr...

Background: Correlation between therapy with interferons, thyroid autoimmunity and dysfunction is widely reported. Currently we used two different pegilated-interferons (α-2a, α-2b).Aim: Evaluate a probable different behaviour of two PEG-IFN responsible of thyroid abnormalities.Patients and methods: We observed 236 consecutive naïve-patients with HCV-related chronic-disease undergoing a treatment with antiviral thera...

Context: Although unexplained conflicting results are present in the literature, most of studies report the association of BRAFV600E in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) with a more advanced disease and with a worst prognosis. We recently demonstrated that in most of the cases PTC consists of a mixture of tumour cells with wild-type and mutant BRAF. Hence, we examined the association of percentage of BRAFV600E alleles with clinicopathologic parameters at diagnosis and disease ...

Background: Graves’ disease (GD) is an autoimmune disorder of thyroid gland and is the first cause of hyperthyroidism. Radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy is the most used second- line treatment after failure of anti-thyroid drugs. The optimal RAI’s activity to be administered may be predetermined or calculated. Whether the latter is better is still a matter of debate.Aim: To compare the risk of persistent hyperthyroidism in GD patients treated wi...

Background and Aim: Potential adverse effects of metabolic surgery on skeletal integrity remains an important concern. Bone loss is common after surgery due to multiple factors including vitamin D deficiency, altered calcium metabolism, mechanical load reduction and hormonal pattern changes. It is still not clear if the effects on bone health and calcium homeostasis vary according to each surgical technique. Further, long-term data of different surgical approaches are poor. Th...