Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: Growing interest has been focused on the role of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in the protection of cardiac and vascular integrity. Moreover, ANP enhances lipolysis and fat-oxidation. However, the impact of exercise on ANP in obesity is not yet investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the modulation of exercise-induced changes in ANP in obesity.Methods: We studied the hormonal and metabolic responses to 30 min exercise on cyclo-...

Objectives: Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) plays a fundamental role in regulation of metabolism and energy homeostasis. Low BDNF levels have been identified as possible biological causes for development of obesity and BDNF administration has been shown to induce weight loss and to improve insulin sensitivity in diabetic animal models. Acute exercise is known to induce a transient increase of peripheral BDNF but no information is yet available regarding the exercise-i...

Objective: Adiposity, insulin resistance, and hyperandrogenism are features of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) secreted from adipose and liver tissue has been linked to insulin resistance. We here address the impact of RBP4 on insulin resistance in PCOS and its usability to identify women with metabolic syndrome or impaired glucose metabolism (IGT or diabetes).Design: RBP4 was determined in plasma of 115 PCOS...

Objectives: Insulin resistance (IR) is a very common metabolic abnormality in obesity, which is often associated with reduced growth hormone (GH) secretion. GH deficiency is associated with increased in intra-abdominal fat and several parameters of the metabolic syndrome. IGF-I improves IR but the IGF-binding proteins are supposed to regulate its bioactivity although only little information exists. We postulated that the elevated insulin levels due to IR do not only suppress G...

Background: The mechanisms underlying the association between severe hypoglycaemia and increased cardiovascular mortality among patients with diabetes mellitus are not fully understood. Our aim was to evaluate changes in GH/IGF1 axis during insulin-induced hypoglycaemia, as a possible link.Methods: Twenty-five healthy subjects, 12 obese participants (OP; 6/ 6; 34.4±1.7 kg/m2), and 13 healthy lean participants (LP; 6/ 7; 21.7±0.6 kg/m...

Objectives: GH measurements during OGTT have profound effects on therapy and follow-up management of acromegaly. To minimize the discordance between immunoassays, it is recommended to calibrate them using 22 kDa-GH-preparation instead of the use of pituitary-derived calibrants. The aim of our study was to evaluate the between-method discrepancies in GH determinations by assays using different calibrants considering further confounders like age, gender, and BMI.<p class="ab...

Objective: The mechanisms underlying the well known glucagon-induced satiety effect are unclear. As we showed recently, the glucagon-induced reduction in total ghrelin, that might be responsible for this effect, is exerted at hypothalamus–pituitary level. The aim of the present study was to further evaluate glucagon’s suppressive effect on both total and acylated-ghrelin in obesity with respect to its role in appetite control.Methods: Prospecti...

Objectives: Besides the measurement of IGF-1, GH suppression during OGTT to assess the biochemical status in acromegaly is recommended. However, as a consequence of the development of highly sensitive and specific GH assays a critical re-evaluation of the criteria for the diagnosis and follow-up management of acromegaly is mandatory. The aim of our study was to evaluate the between-method discrepancies in GH determinations by different immunoassays considering further confound...