Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Adrenocortical tumors (ACT) are classified as adenomas (ACA) or carcinomas (ACC). β-Catenin constitutive activation is a frequent alteration in benign and malignant ACT. E-cadherin was discovered as a protein associated with β-catenin which plays a crucial role in cadherin-mediated cell adhesion. N-cadherin seems to be involved in the development of malignant ACT, but information regarding expression of N-cadherin or E-cadherin in ACT is very limited....

A 69-year-old woman developed hypertension, polyuria and hyperglycemia over the course of several months. The initial biochemical investigation revealed ACTH-dependent hypercortisolism (UFC 409.7 μg/24 h, NR 10–80; ACTH 43.3 pg/ml, NR 8–50; OST 28 μg/dl) and moderately elevated urinary catecholamines (E 80.5 μg/24 h, NR 2.5–33.6; norE 235.8 μg/24 h, NR 18.1–128.2). Further investigations disclosed absent ACTH and cortisol responses to CR...

Introduction: Somatostatin (SST) is a widely distributed polypeptide that modulates the endocrine and exocrine secretion, cellular proliferation and differentiation, and apoptosis via G protein-linked receptors. Our previous studies showed high SSTR expression in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), aldosterone producing adenoma (APA) and in cortisol producing adenoma (CPA). Only very few information are available about the effectiveness of SST analogs in adrenal tumors.<p clas...

Introduction: We have previously reported on the considerable variability in ACTH-secreting pituitary adenomas in terms of responses to major modulators in vitro (Pecori Giraldi et al J. Neuroendocrinol. 2011). Further studies revealed also differences in gene expression profiles in specimens analyzed by microarray analysis. Aim of this study is to correlate transcriptome expression pattern in archival human ACTH-secreting adenomas with clinical features of patients p...

Cushing’s disease, i.e. cortisol excess due to an ACTH-secreting pituitary adenoma, is a rare disorder with considerable morbidity and mortality. Current therapeutic strategies include pituitary surgery, radiation, adrenalectomy and medical treatment with steroidogenesis inhibitors, as drugs aimed at the pituitary adenoma are as yet under investigation. Experimental data showed that retinoic acid restrains ACTH secretion by tumoral corticotrophes thus we decided to evalua...

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by a low bone mass and the development of nontraumatic fractures, most commonly in the spine. However, bone mineral density (BMD) alone is not completely satisfactory in vertebral fracture risk assessment.Aim of the study: To identify clinical and laboratoristic factors associated with an increased risk of vertebral fractures in osteoporotic Caucasian women and to define a new clinically relevant scal...

Objectives: PET/CT scan with 18F-fluoro-dihydroxyphenylalanine (18F-DOPA) is an emerging useful tool in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) patients. The question whether 18F-DOPA-PET/CT could be useful in MTC patients with biochemical incomplete response (BiR) is to clarify.Methods: Fifty-three MTC patients with BiR performed 18F-DOPA-PET/CT scan between May 2021 and December 2022 after having performed total body ...

Background: Previous studies have shown an association between low CYP11B2 DNA methylation levels and high CYP11B2 mRNA levels in aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA), suggesting that epigenetic mechanisms play a pivotal role for regulating CYP11B2 function in primary aldosteronism. It has been proposed that aldosterone-producing cell clusters (APCCs) may become a source of autonomous aldosterone production when evolving into APA.Aim: Our aim was to deter...

Background: Follicular-derived thyroid cancers (FDTC) generally have a good prognosis. Nonetheless, a minority of them have an aggressive behavior and develop distant metastases, with increased mortality rates. Pre-surgically available prognostic markers, able to identify this group of patients are still lacking.Materials and methods: The study involved 436 FNA samples with a malignant/suspicious cytology obtained from thyroid nodules in 436 consecutive ...

Hypothyroidism has been traditionally described as a frequent endocrine complication of thalassemic children: in these patients hypothyroidism is mainly of primary origin and not linked to autoimmunity (Mariotti et al., Pediatr Endocrinol Rev 2011). Fewer data are available on the prevalence and nature of this complication in adult age thalassemia. Therefore, we elected to evaluate thyroid function and autoimmunity in a large series of adult patients.<p class="abs...