Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The relationship between cardiovascular (CV) diseases (CVD) and testosterone levels in men has not been completely clarified.Aim: To evaluate the association between testosterone levels and CV risk in subjects with erectile dysfunction (ED) and to verify whether their body mass index might (BMI) represents a possible confounder in testosterone-related CV stratification.Material and methods: A consecutive series of 2269 ...

Introduction: The category of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) denotes a state of non-diabetic hyperglycemia, considered a risk factor of the further development of diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular (CV) diseases.Aim: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the impact of IFG on sexual health in men. In addition its effect on CV morbidity and mortality will also be addressed.Methods: A consecutive series of 3451 men (mean ...

Objective(S): Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) G894T may affect the oxidative stress response. Our objective was to examine G894T SNP eNOS genotype frequencies and its potential role with sperm motility in infertile men. Through this prospective controlled study in the Andrology Unit, we have enrolled infertile (n=70) and healthy (n=60) men. Sperm motion kinetics assessed by computer assisted semen analysis (CASA), ...

Spermatozoa generate small amounts of O2°- and NO°. Under physiological condition these compounds exist at very low concentration and the formation of peroxynitrite (ONOO−) appears likely. Peroxynitrite reacts rapidly with proteins, lipids and DNA. Moreover, tyrosine nitration is a widely used marker of peroxynitrite. The nitration of protein residues gives rise to 3-nitrotyrosine which represents a protein modification specific for ONOO− formation in ...

It has been previously shown that human spermatozoa produce nitric oxide (NO), a short-lived free radical synthesised by three isoforms of NO synthase (NOS): endothelial (eNOS), neuronal (nNOS), and inducible (iNOS), which are responsible for the conversion of L-arginine to L-citrulline and NO. Spermatozoa of fertile men express both eNOS and nNOS. The specific roles of NOS isoforms in gametes are not well understood, even if iNOS seems to ...

Introduction: Male sexual behaviour is deeply influenced by the endocrine system. However, few data are available on low cortisol serum levels and sexuality.Subjects and methods: In order to investigate the sexual function in 12 men before and during replacement treatment for Addison disease (AD), we performed sexual and psychological evaluations before replacement therapy (‘baseline’) and at least 8 weeks after complete recovery from cortisol ...

Introduction and objectives: Anxiety has a relevant impact on everyday life, including sexual life, and therefore is considered the final common pathway by which social, psychological and biological stressors negatively affect sexual functioning. The aim of this study is to define the psycho-biological correlates of free-floating anxiety in a large sample of patients complaining erectile dysfunction (ED) based sexual problems.Methods: We studied a consec...

Introduction and objectives: Aim of this study is to evaluate the psycho-biological correlates of DM associated hypogonadism (DMAH).Methods: The Structured Interview SIEDY was employed along with several biochemical, psychological and instrumental investigations. We defined hypogonadal subjects (HY) those with a circulating total testosterone (T) below 10.4 nM.Results: We studied 1246 patients. More than 15% resulted affected by ty...

Introduction and objectives: Achieving and maintaining a penile erection are two essential components of the male sexual response. It has recently been suggested that distinct molecular mechanism could underlie the two disturbances. The aim of the present study is to verify possible clinical differences on pathogenetic factors underlying difficulties of achieving and maintaining an erection.Methods: We studied a consecutive series of 560 pa...

Introduction and objectives: Pathogenesis of delayed ejaculation (DE) is rather unknown, although the contribution of various psychological, marital, hormonal and neurological factors has been advocated.Methods: In this study we systematically investigated the relative relevance of the aforementioned factors in a large sample (1632) of men, seeking medical help for sexual dysfunction. Delayed ejaculation was defined according to Kaplan criteria. In parti...