Endocrine Abstracts

Hyponatremia is the most frequent electrolytic disorder in clinical practice. It is estimated that in about 50% of cases hyponatremia is secondary to the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (SIAD). Hyponatremia is associated with a worse outcome and with increased mortality in several diseases, including cancer. In vitro and in vivo evidence shows that low [Na+ ] is associated with neurological and extra-neurological alterations, which include f...

Hyponatraemia represents an independent risk factor for osteoporosis and fractures, affecting both bone density and quality. A direct stimulation of osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption in the presence of reduced extracellular sodium concentrations ([Na+]) has been shown, but, to date, the effects of reduced [Na+] on osteoblasts have not been elucidated. This study investigated the effects of a chronic reduction of extracellular [Na+], independently of osmotic stress, on hum...

Introduction: There is evidence that chronic mild hyponatremia (serum (Na+) 130–135 mmol/l) may have clinical consequences, such as fracture occurrence and neurological symptoms including unsteadiness, falls and attention deficits. These have been traditionally associated to water movement into nervous cells, as a result of the hypotonic state. The aim of the present study was to determine whether low extracellular sodium directly exerts negative effects on human neuronal...

In male, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) have been associated, beside benign prostatic hyperplasia, to some unexpected co-morbidities, such as hypogonadism, obesity and metabolic syndrome, which are essentially characterized by an unbalance between circulating androgens and estrogens. Within the bladder, LUTS have been linked to overactivity of the RhoA/ROCK pathway. Here we investigate the effects of changing sex steroids on bladder smooth muscle. The effects of androgens...

One of the proposed mechanisms responsible for Diabetes mellitus (DM)-associated erectile (ED) dysfunction is overactivity of RhoA/ROCK signalling. Because statins may decrease RhoA activation, we investigated whether atorvastatin ameliorated DM-induced ED in alloxan-treated (100 mg/kg) rabbits (in vitro studies) and streptozotocin-treated (STZ, 50 mg/kg) rats (in vivo studies). A subgroup of diabetic animals received atorvastatin 5 mg/kg per daily 2 weeks before...

Human bladder contraction mainly depends on Ca2+ influx, via L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, and on RhoA/Rho-kinase contractile signalling, a pathway up-regulated in overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome. Elocalcitol (Elo) is a vitamin D receptor agonist inhibiting RhoA/Rho-kinase signalling in rat and human bladder, shown to ameliorate OAB symptoms in a clinical study. Since in normal bladder from Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats Elo treatment delayed the c...

The molecular mechanisms underlying the reawakening of hypothalamic GnRH neurons at puberty remain to be elucidated. Recently, the G protein-coupled receptor 54 (GPR54) and its endogenous ligand kisspeptin, encoded by the KISS1 gene, have been involved. In fact, GPR54 mutations cause idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in human and mice. We used the previously characterized primary culture of human fetal olfactory GnRH-secreting neurons, FNC-B4, to study in vitro t...

Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common disease in the aging male, often comorbid with erectile dysfunction (ED). PDE5 inhibitors (PDE5i, sildenafil, tadalafil and vardenafil) decrease lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in patients with ED and BPH. We studied PDE5 expression and activity in the human bladder and PDE5i effects both in vitro (human and rat) and in vivo (rat). PDE5 is highly expressed in rat and human bladder and immunolocalized in vas...

Introduction: The European Registries for Rare Endocrine Conditions (EuRRECa) was created in collaboration with the European Reference Network on Rare Endocrine Conditions (Endo-ERN), the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and the European Society of Endocrinology to support the needs of the endocrine community. The Core Registry, one of its platforms, enables the collection of longitudinal patient and clinician reported outcomes. A module collecting aspects of the ...